Monstrous Love Bites Back - Short Story Anthology

HEART OF STONE

written by Bdicocco 
watch/listen to the audiobook chapter on Youtube

Can you drown yourself in Netflix?

It's a question I've been asking myself a lot recently. A gorgon can only watch so many shows starring "sexy singles looking for love" without losing the ability to feel.

Even my snakes are bored by this content. On better days, they're a feisty bunch, hissing and slithering in their tangle atop of my head. Now, they're quiet, fast asleep as I lie on the couch for the third day in a row. Only Theo is still awake, watching the screen with me with his lidless eyes.

I hear the old wood floors creaking, and when I look up, I see my sister's face hovering overhead, along with her own set of snakes. Twenty-five pairs of eyes gaze at me with a level of pity.

"Medusa," my sister says.

"Euryale," I say, using her full name back. We've been Maddie and Yuri for a while now—she only whips out the real names when she's particularly irritated.

She glances at the television, making a face at the numerous skimpy bikinis and shirtless men populating the screen. "How can you watch that trash all day?" she asks.

I roll my eyes. "I'm depressed. Can you blame me?"

She sighs, sitting down next to me. I know she's about to launch into her spiel; I can almost recite it by memory at this point.

"This is the hand we've been dealt," she says, "and we have to make the most of it. You can't just watch TV all day."

"Then what else should I be doing?" I mumble, watching a girl sip on champagne in a hot tub. "It's not like I can go into town. It's not like I can leave this stupid house."

"You're obsessed with realty TV."

"At least it's better than my emo phase."

Yuri gives me a look, one that's both full of sisterly love and irritation. "Listen, I need you off the couch. You've been burning a hole in it for days and it needs to be cleaned."

I puff out my cheeks in annoyance, but I know she isn't giving me a choice. When Yuri wants to clean, she gets to clean. It's like she thinks she can fix our lot by dusting or mopping. Like we can just scrub the past away.

"Fine," I mumble, slowing getting off the couch. My bones creak as I do so—I might look like I'm 19, but add in 3000 years and you'll be closer to my actual age.

I know they say "time heals all wounds," but I don't really believe it at this point. Time just makes you more apathetic.

Over the whir of the vacuum, I wander to a window, peering out through the glass and at the sparkling sunshine outside. Yuri must have seen my wistful glance because she suddenly stops the vacuum and says, "Why don't you go outside? Sit in the garden? Winter's pretty much over."

"It's April. I don't know why we live somewhere where it's still winter in April." I shouldn't be so snarky, but it's only because of how desperately I want to go outside. Even though we live so far away from the rest of civilization, going outside is a luxury. There have been too many close calls despite all of our precautions. The fact that Yuri is suggesting I go outside must mean that I've been acting pretty pathetic.

Yuri passes me a silk bonnet. For most people, this sort of bonnet is meant to be worn at night, to protect their hair while they sleep. For me, it's meant to protect others from my hair.