Shiori fell to the bottom of the world. It was black. It was cold, and wet like oil was wet. It was full of moving faces. They ate Shiori’s fingers, robes, eyes.

Something clammy tangled his legs with great knots, and reeked. They were the dead woman’s intestines. They snaked and squeezed. Shiori couldn’t see with his eyes, but he could see other ways. He knew it was her.

The woman in white grabbed his face and crushed his cheekbones in. You should have let me be, she said. Do you always do what you’re told? Don’t they ever blame you? Don’t you blame you?

-The Stars Went Out

This story is full of trauma and incredibly extra woman. This one doesn’t get a name, even though she’s important to Shiori’s past. As a character, Shiori is very erratic, and it shows when I write him. Narrative sections centered on him tend to jump in tone a lot.