Emily Edwards

Vein

Mummy used to answer my questions with words. Real ones. Without a camera or caption. When she was in phase three, I could ask her all sorts of questions. I had asked her what it used to be like, when the sunshine was real. She had told me it was still real, we had just chosen a better way to feel it’s effects. She had adjusted the chemicals in my vein. I had felt a sudden warmth. She had said that it used to show on the skin. Before the virus, before sponsorships and mitts, people would tan from the inside outward. Sometimes it went wrong and red and it hurt, like a bad chemical reaction. She had said that it would be even worse now. Outside, you would be burnt immediately now that the world has been destroyed.