This will be my forty-third dissection. All in the name of advancing medical science they say. Always a different start each time, this time they opted with the heart and lungs. Heart pumping on the table next to me, lungs rising and falling, separated completely from the rest.
A panel of doctors and faceless men taking notes and discussing what steps are to be taken next. It doesn't matter what they do, always the same result. In the end, I slowly pull myself together, and once I'm done, they begin to prepare me for the next procedure.
Time for forty-four.
sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 550px, (min-width: 750px) calc((100vw - 130px) / 2), calc((100vw - 50px) / 2)"
alt="To Cleave the Crone by E.M. McCormack"
class="motion-reduce"
loading="lazy"
width="1200"
height="630"
>
sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 550px, (min-width: 750px) calc((100vw - 130px) / 2), calc((100vw - 50px) / 2)"
alt="They Only See Me When I Cry by Alara Rogers"
class="motion-reduce"
loading="lazy"
width="1200"
height="630"
>
sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 550px, (min-width: 750px) calc((100vw - 130px) / 2), calc((100vw - 50px) / 2)"
alt="The Last Leprechaun by Dakria"
class="motion-reduce"
loading="lazy"
width="1200"
height="630"
>
sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 550px, (min-width: 750px) calc((100vw - 130px) / 2), calc((100vw - 50px) / 2)"
alt="Sitting on Aine's Cursed Stone by Crystal N. Ramos"
class="motion-reduce"
loading="lazy"
width="1200"
height="630"
>