A faded jewellery box with a lacklustre ribbon beckoned from my stocking.
Merry Christmas Eve, my future in-laws whispered.
Waiting inside: a tarnished watch, hands frozen a minute to midnight. Held against my ear, it ticked faintly—a metronome to my pulse.
I strapped on the cracked watch.
The clasp clicked closed, and the hands blurred into motion.
Day, night, waxing, waning.
My arm.
Mountains of wrinkles, liver spots, paper-thin skin. Protruding bone.
***
The great-great-great-grandmother sucked clean the skin, gnawed the bone, and undid the gleaming watch from the corpse, her body twenty-seven once again.
Christmas magic, the soul-eaters snickered.
sizes="(min-width: 1200px) 550px, (min-width: 750px) calc((100vw - 130px) / 2), calc((100vw - 50px) / 2)"
alt="Phantom by Liam Dragan"
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="Neuroluxe Implant no 3Z82M99B64 by Bryanna Botham"
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="Blindly Following Orders by Chris Tattersall"
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="Donor by Collette Night"
class="motion-reduce"
loading="lazy"
width="1200"
height="630"
>