A copy or reproductionI left Julia standing at the lookout, my head fizzing with the heaviness of her revelation. Mother’s disapproval followed me down the mountain and I ran without checking my footing on the loose gravel tracks. The terrifying downhill slalom removed the skin from my knees in falls I barely noticed. Blood coursed through the wounds. Threats of disaster screamed in my brain, the seriousness of Julia’s condition rising like spikes of pain in my head. A miserable childhood at the mercy of ill-informed opinion and an equally lonely adult life had spurred my decision to never have children of my own. She knew that. The thought of passing on the unnamed strangeness in my genetic code roiled my stomach. I never wanted to witness Julia defending her child with the expression I’d
