Tell the Machine Goodnight: A Novel by Katie Williams

Author:Katie Williams [Williams, Katie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Coming of Age, Family Life, General, Literary
ISBN: 9780525533146
Google: 9dc7DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2018-06-18T22:00:00+00:00

* * *

—

THE WORD FOR SPELL, as in casting a spell, comes from the same root as the word for narration. This is evidence that ancient people believed language to be a sort of magic, the simple act of naming something akin to creating it, controlling it. If you know someone’s true name, you can destroy him, or so they say. In the old stories people hide their names from all but their most trusted loved ones. Supposedly, God hides His real name, even from those who worship Him. In college, I had a professor who asked the entire lecture hall to cover their ears before he whispered the real name of God. I left my ears uncovered and found myself disappointed by the syllables.

The meeting with the client goes on for over an hour. They want me to name their new eye cream, one of those tiny little pots containing tallow, perfume, and whatever manatee phlegm or powdered unicorn penis is supposed to make your wrinkles go away. They even have Calla Pax signed on as the spokesmodel. I’ll have to tell Georg so that he can tell his husband.

I know immediately what the name of the product should be: Crone Cream. I also know the executives are not ready to hear this idea. They’re off in the swan-feather, flower-petal, snowflake realm. But I can see her, the crone, waving from the window of her little house. I’ll have to wait to suggest it. If I say, “Call it Crone Cream,” right now, these men will all blink at me, then one of them will reply, “Sincerity is the new irony.” As if they understand irony. They don’t know that irony means God’s laughter. Yahweh’s laughter.

After the meeting with the eye-cream clients, I take the train downtown to meet Elliot and Rhett. On the train, I watch strangers’ eyes, studying the wrinkles that curl from them like script, like talons. How much squinting, how much laughter to earn each of those lines?

Crone Cream.

I would like to wander down a wooded path to the sod house among the pine trees. I would like to stand at its window and ask the crone my three questions. No, that’s not what I would like. What I would like is to be the crone, the answers hidden in the folds of my skin. The word crone comes from the word for “carcass.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.