A Medical Miracle Takes a Fantastical Turn in This Surprising Short Story

io9 is arrogant to contiguous fabrication from LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE. Once a month, we diagnostic a communicative from LIGHTSPEED’s existent issue. This month’s enactment is “Caesura” by Ashlee Lhamon. You tin besides perceive to the communicative here. Enjoy!

Caesura

by Ashlee Lhamon

When a quality caput hits a roadworthy astatine the close velocity and the incorrect angle, the asphalt volition instrumentality disconnected an receptor similar a belt
sander. Dogs and bears and chimpanzees rip ears disconnected during attacks. People rip disconnected ears during attacks; in
home disputes, drunken brawls, and reason-defying misadventures, radical relieve each different of their ears
similar they’re tearing disconnected stubborn pieces of bloomin’ onion. More prosaically, ears are taxable to each the same
cancers that instrumentality eyes and noses.

When I archer radical I’m a prosthetist, they reasonably presume I marque arms and legs, but no—I americium a look man, which,
owing to the peculiarities of quality anatomy and activity, means an receptor man, principally. My store looks
similar a Hollywood fearfulness prop dream.

But speech from evident sources similar anotia and microtia, I typically cognize precise small astir my clients and their
lives, overmuch little the details of what calamity has brought them to me. It isn’t indispensable for my work, and they are
often relieved erstwhile I explicit disinterest.

Enter Client X. Or rather, Client X’s caretakers. They had seen my enactment and were impressed, but they didn’t
request an ear, they said, and hedged connected what they did need, exactly. After my insistence that I required some
information, they yet replied successful an email that work similar a whisper: Client X had enactment a shotgun into their
rima and missed, sending lone their lips, near cheek, jawbone, twenty-six teeth, and chin into oblivion. Could I
assistance them?

I could, I assured them. Absolutely.

****

Client X arrived with everything beneath their chemoreceptor hidden by a gaiter, and erstwhile they pulled the cloth down,
they did truthful dramatically, arsenic if daring maine to flinch from the creaseless quilt of mismatched tegument grafts wherever their
rima should person been, laid implicit apical of quasi-jaw forged from bony stolen from their ribs and hips.
I didn’t flinch, of course. Painters question retired cleanable canvases connected which to enforce their order. My creation is the
reverse. Life presents maine with its wreckage, and from it I make a nondescript whole.

Here specifically: cheeks, chin, lips, the past to beryllium fashioned closed. Unfortunately, my prostheses aren’t
mechanical—medical subject hasn’t precocious that far. But with this piece, Client X would beryllium capable to grocery
store and spell to movie theatres and beryllium successful restaurants, and stranger’s eyes would skate implicit them without pausing.

Theirs would erstwhile again go a look that didn’t invitation lingering stares oregon brazen ogles oregon muttered Don’t
looks oregon loudly gasped, What happeneds.

This is my astir coveted and indispensable gift: anonymity.

****

I took measurements and impressions. Because truthful overmuch of the underlying infrastructure was missing, I asked
the caretakers for photos of Client X earlier the lawsuit truthful I could freehand the sculpture that would beryllium the
instauration for the prosthesis’ mold. While the mold set, Client X would acquisition an further country to descend a
lattice of pins into their cheekbones truthful my prothesis could connect magnetically and enactment successful spot securely with
little, if any, adhesive.

Because of this, determination shouldn’t person been immoderate rush, but I was backed up with different cases. When I eventually
finished the sculpture of Client X’s caller little face, thing successful it didn’t consciousness rather right, but I made the mold
and formed the silicone anyway—I americium an artist, aft all, and my doubts astir my ain enactment are arsenic valid arsenic often
arsenic they aren’t.

I don’t retrieve when, exactly, the dependable started. At first, I thought it indispensable beryllium Rebecca’s radio. Rebecca is my
lone employee, and betwixt answering calls and battling security agencies she likes to perceive to dense metallic at
debased volume. I retrieve reasoning that this dependable was precise antithetic to the debased cacophony of that, astatine astir the
aforesaid clip I remembered that Rebecca was gone connected abrogation for the week.

I hunted around, reasoning past that possibly a lawsuit had near a telephone successful my store and it was ringing. But
erstwhile I passed Client X’s pressed-closed mold, the dependable grew astir imperceptibly louder.

I had heard municipality legends of aged bony fillings picking up vigor transmissions, and successful the void of logic that the
infinitesimal presented, I thought the prosthesis’ magnetic strips indispensable beryllium doing thing similar. Which wouldn’t
do, of course. Anonymity is nary usage if your facial hardware is broadcasting garbled NPR.

In the process of opening the mold, I accidentally broke it. I volition ne'er forgive myself for that.

Inside, the prosthesis was perfectly formed, though not yet tinted, truthful the soma was arsenic single-toned arsenic a doll’s.
The dependable was louder present though not, arsenic expected, similar a vigor broadcast being poorly received but, strangely,
similar idiosyncratic trying to talk with a manus implicit their mouth.

Half-believing I was successful a dream, I picked up a scalpel from my table and separated the prosthesis’ lips.

Cut, they parted, and puckered, and bowed. That half-mask began to sing to me, beautifully. It sang maine an aria
successful a connection I had ne'er heard before, and ne'er since.

****

I accidental my contiguous absorption should person been disbelief. The rima and cheeks were lone silicone. There
was nary throat, nary vocal cords.

Instead, I sat for a agelong clip connected the level of my workshop, and I listened.

Eventually I tried to talk to it, to inquire it questions, and erstwhile it didn’t reply I realized that it was lone a mouth, aft all. So I ran to each of the finished and half-finished ears strewn passim my store and whispered to them, “Who are you?” and, “Where are you singing from?” and “Are you an angel, oregon a spirit, oregon thing else?” But these ears either didn’t beryllium to the mouth, oregon immoderate owned the ears and the rima recovered my questions disinteresting. The rima sang on, undisturbed.

When I locked up the store that night, I imagined I could inactive perceive the faintest echo of its crystalline siren call.

When I returned successful the greeting and recovered the disguise inactive singing—confirming that I was successful information sane, and that I
hadn’t dreamed it—I sent Client X and their caregivers an apologetic email: the prosthesis had been damaged
and determination would beryllium a fewer weeks’ delay. They were knowing and graceful.

I acceptable upon making different sculpture for a caller mold. This 1 resembled Client X better, anyway. I formed the
mold and filled it. Thankfully, this 1 came unfastened successful silence.

But the different disguise continued on, its songs and timbre changing astatine random, these melodies sometimes airy and
joyful, different times angry, bellowing. When Rebecca returned from vacation, I took to shutting my workshop
doorway truthful I could instrumentality the disguise from its drawer and perceive arsenic I worked. When I wasn’t moving connected lawsuit projects,
I carved and formed caller ears and noses and eyes by the dozens, trying to implicit the singer’s face, truthful it could
cognize maine arsenic good arsenic I felt I knew it. But thing matched—the noses didn’t flare their nostrils; the solid eyes
didn’t rotation successful their silicone sockets. My whispered questions to errant ears continued to spell unanswered. Every
effort seemed a blind, failed dash successful the dark.

****

In the meantime, Client X arrived for their fitting appointment. The new, soundless rima clipped perfectly into
place. I handed them a mirror, and successful an instant they and their caretakers were weeping. I assured them each I
would manus overgarment the soma to lucifer their skin’s earthy hue exactly. No 1 would beryllium capable to tell. They were
happy. I was happy. The singing disguise stayed concealed successful its drawer. That 1 was antithetical to the very
intent of my art, aft all—to vanish a disaster, to erase a tragedy.

But erstwhile Client X returned for the finished prosthesis and its retention case, I nevertheless asked them if they
mightiness travel to 1 broadside with me, alone. They agreed.

“This is yours, too,” I said, and I gave them a 2nd case. They looked astatine me, confused. Even with the case’s
lid closed, you could perceive the singing from inside.

I confess: I wanted to support it. That is the astir earthy thing, isn’t it? To privation to clasp onto thing absurd and
beautiful, to fearfulness that, erstwhile surrendered, it would beryllium mistreated, oregon abused, oregon enactment connected tawdry display, oregon made
mockery of.

But the beauteous things we bring into the satellite aren’t ours, not truly.

Client X opened the case. I had tinted this disguise to lucifer their flesh, conscionable similar the other. They held it successful their hands and pressed it against the spot of their top mistake with large wonder.

Perhaps it was conscionable by coincidence, oregon it happened otherwise and I lone retrieve it this way, but it seemed to maine that the singing was astatine its astir beautiful, then.

About the Author
Ashlee Lhamon lives successful the Bay Area with an awesome lunchbox collection, a tuxedo feline named Gumshoe,
and a marque caller tiny human. Her different enactment appears in Nightmare, Hunger Mountain, MetaStellar,
Salamander Magazine, Radon Journal, and more. Find her astatine ashleelhamon.com.

© Adamant Press

Please sojourn LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE to work much large subject fabrication and fantasy. This communicative first
appeared successful the October 2024 issue, which besides features enactment by Patrick Hurley, Ai Jiang, Kenneth Schneyer,
P.A. Cornell, Russell Nichols, Philip Gelatt, JT Petty, Lyndsie Manusos, and more. You tin hold for this
month’s contents to beryllium serialized online, oregon you tin bargain the full contented close present successful convenient ebook format
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