‘Stop,’ I gasped, and I know I said it, because he heard me. He answered.
‘Wait,’ he said, and then he lifted his head, tossed his hair back, and I saw that it was morning. His hand came down on my cheek, pressing my face to the side. He didn’t want to look at me or he didn’t want me to look at him. Instead, I stared out the window at the weak morning sun of a slightly longer day.
‘Let me finish,’ he said.
• • •
Time stopped then and never really restarted.
• • •
The Sphinx, the third card I drew this morning, is a mythical creature. It has the head of a man and the body of a lion. It stands at the city gates and asks visitors to solve riddles. If you answer correctly, the Sphinx allows you to enter. If you answer incorrectly, the Sphinx eats you alive.
‘Where’s my homunculus?’ Eas
