Francesco Levato

The Story of a Girl with Turquoise Hair and Skin as Pale as Wax

They’re all dead. I am too, I tell the figure swinging from a branch outside my window, its bones

clacking together like wind chimes. I know what it wants from me, what it would take—whether

I offer or not. But this time, I won’t. Let the assassins come. Let them pry from its mouth what it

holds most dear. When its demands finally cease, I’ll leave it hanging until the strings rot, until

its bones fall, nourishing for once. There’s a reason why no one lives in this house, why my

mouth refuses to open—even when I speak.

Francesco Levato is a poet, professor, and writer of speculative fiction. Recent speculative fiction appears in Flash Fiction Online, Tales to Terrify, Savage Planets, and Sci-Fi Shorts, among others. He holds an MFA in Poetry, and a PhD in English Studies. More at: francescolevato.com.