Page 178 - DivineSparkRising II-TheMirrorofSilenceFinal

Divine Spark Rising
Language returned to Carolina in spine-first
increments. She didn’t trust it yet. She built an
anchor out of actions and laid words across it like
planks:
* Tap-tap. We
* Inhale. are
* Exhale. here.
* Press thumb to reader. We
* Hand on rail. will
* Nod to Sera. hold.
The engine tried to tear one plank free; the
others held it in place until it learned the strength
of the whole. Henry watched the sentence stand.
He felt like a man watching a child take a first step
after a fever.
Sofia fell silent. The platform steadied. The tone
under their teeth loosened its bite.
“Better,” Sera whispered.
“Better,” Carolina echoed, and the word stayed.
Henry’s eyes stung. He let them. He would let
many things.
6. Aftershock
Jinji’s voice returned through the wire,
breathless as if she had been running in a place
where legs were just metaphors. That sweep was
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