The dreadful attack of vertigo woke her. She realized she was still alive.
A newly made steel knot gathered in the middle of her forehead. Each time she inhaled, the knot tightened. It was a diff erent struggle, a struggle to give up thinking. However, her struggle was not strong enough. The knot won. She could not yet get up.
The only light that shone in the room was from the door gap. Whatever refl ected in the light was a growing part of a shadow. Mei chose to ignore all the shadows. She blinked for a good second. Her world was a coalmine, where today’s fantasy met yesterday’s history. She started rethinking or recalling, feeling an extreme void. Seemingly overnight her fingers and her toes were missing. The pain was from one thousand cuts. She turned into a human vegetable. Her lips spoke a silent language, yet her inner voice was metal on metal.