TE20 Migrant Mosaics

Goran Vojnović

previous night.

It’s not good for you to lie there in the damp. You’ll catch a chill.

She didn’t react. Her clenched fists gripped the sheet beneath her, probably with every bit of strength she was still able to muster. Aleksandar took a further step backwards.

Have a feel, you’ll see that it’s wet.

By now he had one foot out of the door, and her left hand had let go of the sheet and slowly moved down between her legs. He watched her touch the patch of damp beneath her. He was stood only two, maybe three metres away from her, but it seemed as if he were watching at a boundless distance. The body that felt at the sheets no longer belonged to anyone. It was just an image of a body.

Shut the doooor! Shut ittt!! the body cried, and he closed it.

The body came out, wrapped in a sheet.

The bathroom’s the second door on the left, he informed it.

He pointed his hand in the direction of the bathroom, but the body didn’t move. It merely turned its head and looked around the room.

Shall I bring you some clean clothes, so you can get dressed?

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