Chapter 1 · Washed bone

Afterlight

Beyond the visible

What is left when the light goes behind something larger than itself. Afterlight is the eclipse: a black sun, a corona, the ZEMA mark cut from the dark disc and smoke drifting in from the hem. The back carries a four-point star collapsing into its own gravity, the orbits traced in violet. The only pale garment in the chapter, washed bone, so the print reads as shadow instead of ink. Quietest of the five, and the one people stop you to ask about.