To
My Daughter
My
mother told me not to go out looking for you, whoever you were going
to be. She taught me that all I had to do was let you find me. And
you have. One glance across a crowded sports pub during halftime in
the 49ers game. Eye contact. It peeled you away from your friends,
brought you to my side. I’m tentative at first. I’ve made
mistakes before. I want to be sure you’re the one, before I invite
you into my life for real.
Soon
it’s pretty clear it’s not a mistake. You pr

100:
It Wasn’t Me
Daisy:
We
gathered outside Apple’s bedroom. She’s got the smallest room in
the house, really, my old bedroom, the one between the bathroom and
the stairs. Brad, Stacy, Jennifer, Vine, Belle and I: Clarisse was
out cavorting with Margaret somewhere.
Vine
opened the door. Immediately obvious was that there were blades of
grass slipping out from under the bottom of the door, dirt and grass
where Apple’s bedroom floor should have been, and sky and—
A
forest. I looked out

99:
Near the Beginning
Marie
flew like her life depended on it, diving low into the trees and just
barely touching the ends of her wingtip feathers on the trunks as she
pivoted around them, pulling her wings in to pop through the tree
canopy and then back down.
The
attack from her left was unexpected but also easy, for the moment, to
avoid: she was just moving too fast for that threat to materialize.
Instead, nearly exhausted, she found a clearing and a bench, rode up
over the air, lowered her l

98:
Homecoming
Daisy:
We held hands, and I reached what—a few millimeters away in time
and space and next thing we were standing together, still holding
hands, in a very familiar library.
I
felt the presence of several looking over me: Clarisse, Margaret, and
though I knew right where we were, and had explained to our children
what would likely happen, it was Vine who looked up to me in some
degree of panic, like she hadn’t heard me earlier.
“It’s
the library I told you about. More huma

97:
Angel’s Dream
Daisy:
One
doesn’t normally get to see a woman’s ovipositor. It’s an organ
that, ordinarily. stays completely hidden, extending from one woman’s
body directly into another, quantum fluid transfer or to share
thoughts or sometimes just for pleasure.
This
is one of those rare and intentional exceptions. I’m fascinated as
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jennifer’s organ extended like
this, especially with other people watching.
Aurora
leans over my shoulder and gets

96:
Hot
Daisy:
We flew all night and through another day without getting tired,
still radiating energy and expelling helium and nitrogen and water
almost the entire time, snuggled into each other and teaching each
other the finer points of doing this.
Below
us we’d seen only clouds or oceans and hadn’t cared in the least,
but now the energy was dissipating and we realized we had no idea
where on the planet we were.
We
decided to take a break and glide downwards, towards the clouds, and
then

95:
Heavy
Daisy:
“Shelly?”
I asked.
It
was Shelly McNamara, who seemed out of breath. “Thank goodness— I
didn’t think I’d get here in time, but I heard you were here.
Wow. Practically need titanium legs.”
I
reached for her hand to get the full story; Jennifer just stood next
to me to absorb the story from me.
Shelly
had volunteered, along with a sizable army of women, for a desperate
clean-up effort. The sudden extinction of humans meant that, at
hundreds of sites across the planet

94:
Last Man Standing
Daisy:
I
put my right arm around Jennifer as she turned the airlock lever.
The
trick was to open the inner airlock door all the way, quickly. The
chamber we occupied was flooded with an anesthetic gas, Thomas’
creation: enough of it to knock out everyone on the other side of
the door. But to do that it had to get into that other chamber and
mix and they’d have to take one good breath.
We
opened the door together, pulling it quickly inwards and hiding
behind it.
Nothing