The body had no face. The skin had been peeled away like the rind of an exotic fruit. What was left behind was a terrible contortion that seemed to be half a scream, half a laugh. Lidless eyes stared out at nothing, like a blind man staring into the sun. It was a cool day in mid-October, so there were no flies buzzing around the corpse, but other insects had found the remains. A few ants trundled across the mouth and over the tongue. Fat black beetles crawled over the body’s naked chest. A smooth gash ran across the body’s throat and opened it like a secondary mouth.
