For a long time she remained on her knees, her hands by her sides, her eyes on the ground. Then she raised her head and began to pick the bones of the man from the ashes and the blackened sand, their size and lightness catching her as she lifted and held each one for a moment of longing before sliding it gently into the tanned skin. Arm bones. Legs. The back and pelvis. Neck and clavicle. She brushed aside a mound of charcoal to find the skull and she held this remnant in her hands and gazed at the empty eyes and nose, the teeth pearled like nacre from the fire, the top of the head cracked and
...more
