It came into our house wearing our son’s face

and clothes

and gap-toothed smile

we greeted It with open arms

and exposed teeth

ground hard behind rictus grins

“Mama! Papa!”

“Welcome home, son!”

i dried my eyes on my apron

and re-did my makeup

so there is nothing of the figure sobbing over the sink

but fading circles in the fabric

we gathered ‘round the kitchen table

It on one end

us on the other, pressed tight together like a battalion

i could feel papa’s arm against my own

(so pale and so cold)

and the food in my mouth pressed against a sandpaper tongue

swallowed hard like a poison

in thick chunks that gagged me

“It’s so good to see you again.”

“Mm! I missed you, Mama, Papa.

“But all the other kids are so nice.”

It split its lips wide

(too wide, a jagged slice from ear to ear)

and exposed its many TEETH

and It smiled so big and so bright

i reached out and held papa’s hand beneath the table

(his fingers, worn and calloused, shook)

“We’re glad to hear that.”

his hand tightened around mine

bitten fingernails digging crescent cuts into the skin

(so pale and so cold)

i reached for the knife

(to slice the meat, of course)

(only this and nothing more)

and It blinked and i gripped the blade tight and the wood dug welts into my palm and i smiled and my heart pounded staccato in my chest a thundering rush like a war cry and i smiled and i shifted to stand (the chair creaked behind me and tilted back to fall but settled back) and It looked at me with wide black eyes like empty caverns and i i felt the twitch in my bones like something feral gnawing with too many TEETH and too many EYES and too many CLAWS that writhed and tore at the flesh of the womb i smiledand

i

was

silent.

(only this and nothing more.)

i sat down.

(only this and nothing more.)

It relaxed and It laughed and papa laughed and i laughed too

a sound like chiming bells and breaking glass

and then the sun was setting

the dark–

(where such things come out to play)

–rose

“I’ll see you guys next week! Bye Mama, bye Papa!”

“We miss you already, son.”

and as i looked up from kissing Its tiny head

(the taste was vile and dried my lips)

i saw all the other children racing up the road

laughing and cheering in the darkness and the silence and the emptiness

and beyond them another door

another child

another It

and Its father looked up and our eyes met

(please help me)

(i can’t, please help me)

(i can’t)

and he closed the door

(his It ran to the others and they ran into the night)

and i closed mine

(with one hand resting on my stomach)

(round and swollen with infection)

and so it was.