Extract II, from a commissioned novella completed last month.
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Existence is one long terminal illness. If something is terminal, it is formed or situated at the end or extremity of something. It can form at the end, or at the beginning. It is predicted to lead to death, usually a slow and incurable one, full of pain, though the dictionaries and the books often leave that part out. It is the end of a transport route or railway track. It is the final stop. It denotes the end of a part that is furthest from the centre of the body, though no one can agree on where the centre is. According to the law of gravity, the centre is between the hip bones, in line with the second sacral vertebra. But we are always moving, and the centre of gravity moves with us. No matter where it is, the centre cannot hold. A terminal is also the closing of an electric circuit, a place to enter data, a final exam, a bud at the end of a branch. Who knew there were so many kinds of ending.
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I am always open to collaborations and commissions.
L x
