“Are your eyes shut?” Her voice is hoarse, worn away like the shore shaped by waves. The tinkling of crystals scraping the stone floor tells me she is moving into position. 

“Until I’m done,” I answer, pushing the door. I keep my eyelids pinned tight, no matter how much I want to see. Each step is shaky, crunching through the piles of stones on the floor. I know they shimmer and glow, a rush of ecstasy waits when I can see. Fighting the urge, the yearning, the craving to touch them with my delicate human fingers. 

“That’s far enough,” she commands. 

I can sense her closeness and feel the room change as she turns away from me. My hands shake reaching for her hair—twisted snakes hanging down her back. Their mouths tied shut with string. Though it’s not their bite that is the threat. Sliding down each one, I find the right spot and pinch tight, cutting the head off with scissors. They clatter to the floor. Temptation ravenous in my stomach. 

I continue cutting. My fingers explore where each snake emerges from her scalp, sliding down the body, cutting off the end. 

“It is finished.” Her voice escapes as a sigh. 

Flinging my eyes open, I take in the sight of the crystal shards on the floor— mesmerizing amethyst, hypnotizing quartz, deadly obsidian. 

“Go. I will see you in a few months. I must gestate.” 

She slumps into the pile, running her hand over the rocks that were once her offspring. Demonized and weaponized, this is her curse.