Swimming Home

by Deborah Levy

a bad fairy made a deal with me, ‘give me your history and I will give you something to take it away’.

Kitty swam over and pointed to the silver snails on the paving stones. She said the stars laid their dust over everything. There were bits of broken stars on the snails. And then she blinked.

knowledge would not necessarily serve them, nor would it make them happy. There was a chance it would instead throw light on visions they did not want to see.