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face in countershot looked down, as though his look
confused her. She turned to face a different camera, and her
face took on a rather foolish look of surprise and delight —
she was introducing the next segment. Gillian stopped the
film and took the DVD out of the player. On TV, it was still
the horseshoe crabs, which were now back in their native
element, water. And so each year they lay their eggs, said
the warm voice of the speaker, and probably will continue
to do so long after human beings have vanished from the
face of the earth.
•
Gillian spent almost the whole day lying on the floor in the
living room. Gradually she calmed down. She thought she
was gaining strength, but when she pulled herself up, she
felt dizzy. She sat there for a while and waited for it to pass.
Then she picked up her crutches, which were lying beside
her, and got up. It was easier than she expected, and she
hobbled into the kitchen and ate a can of tuna and a couple
of rice cakes she had bought months ago and hated. She
drank a glass of Prosecco, even though the doctor had told
her to stay away from alcohol while she was taking
medications.
She went to the bathroom and opened her side of the
medicine cabinet, which was stuffed with over-the-counter
remedies and personal hygiene products. The woman who
lived here was evidently terrified of bad breath, she gulped