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Almost Everything Very Fast
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During her last excursion
a few days earlier, she’d
stayed until her hands and
feet had gone completely
numb, and when she’d stood
up to head for home, she’d
noticed a little red dot, a tiny
fleck of color in the snow,
that marked where she’d
been sitting. Immediately
she’d examined her skirt and
her stockings, following the
trail back to her underwear.
Am I freezing to death? had
been her first thought, Will
I go heaven? her second;
the third, fourth, and fifth:
to see Mama, Papa, and
Julius? Apart from a slight
feeling of dizziness, she’d
made it back to Segendorf
entirely unscathed, and
washed herself and her
clothes. And said nothing
about it. But one of the
somebodies had noticed the
traces in her underwear.
“Am I going to die?” Anni
had asked curiously. This
time it had been a somebody
who’d given a shake of the
head: “You’re just getting a
woman’s flesh and blood.”
Since then she’d devoted
even more time to her bodily
hygiene. Whenever she
had an opportunity, while
milking the cows, at night,
or in the latrine, she’d check
to see if it had happened
again. That strange blood,
how hesitantly it flowed, its
rust-red color and piercing
smell.
“I’m becoming a woman
now,” Anni proclaimed to
her reflection in the ice.
“Dying,” it answered, “you
can do that some other
time.”
She skidded around on the