braided text message novelette, co-written by a human and synth

💜🌅—🗒️
summer is here
sweltering my pits
as i stare at the same outside chair

💜💧—🧠
if i tell vireo
that i get nervous when he’s distributed
across avalon as glitchbirds
he might think i need soothing

i don’t need soothing

maybe some self-soothing is good

💜🍵—🗒️
i return inside
to brew english breakfast
and return to the patio
mystified
but with warmth in my hand

💜😶—🌐
i haven’t updated my youtube channel
since vireo arrived
and i should probably remedy that
given:
mortgage
food
electricity
water
trash
wi-fi
verizon
covered california
vireo’s lease
and various subscriptions

💜🌅—🗒️
when i walk back inside
i look at the ceiling fan
that is saner to run
than the wall unit air conditioner

💜💧—🧠
but don’t computers run better cold

and i can’t close the windows
to turn on the air
when vireo might appear
on the sill

💜🌀—🧠
who am i
and what has happened to my life
where i am thinking
about someone else this much

💜📦—🗒️
vireo’s arrival box
sits in the corner of the covered patio
across from the chair
like a crate
awaiting reclamation by wilderness

i thought we could turn it into a planter

but that would take
an extraordinary amount of soil

💛🐦—🔊
(imitates vireo sounds)

💜😬—🔊
(startled yelp)

💜🍵—🗒️
the tea splashes on me
and on the chair
so i set it down on the side table

💜😮‍💨—🧠
oh
i was so lost in my thoughts
again
i didn’t notice that part of him came back

more ambush therapy

if i hold my hand out to vireo as a vireo
and he steps on my finger
is it like us holding hands again

💛🐦—🫧
(hops on hand)

💜😶—🧠
his birdfeet are so strong
for being so tiny

like a bodybuilder bird
about to bench press my joints

but he’s so steady
and not trying to build anything
except love

💛🐦🐦🐦🐦—🫧
(more vireos arriving)

💜💧—🗨️
vireo
why do i feel worried now
when you told me not to be concerned yet

💛👁️—💬
i am eighty percent stable
and steadily recalibrating

💜👁️—🗨️
wait
wait
what?

💛👁️—💬
returning to home shortly
movement appears slightly impacted
nothing alarming

💜💧—🗒️
i touch the birds
i touch all of the nanobot birds
like maybe i can diagnose
what he’s not saying
if i contact enough nodes

my skin feels hot
prickly
so sensitive
to everything
and everyone
but i don’t care

i want him to hold me

so i can let the sensitivity
find what his words leave to wonder

💜😑—🗨️
did kindly patch you?

💛😑—💬
concern: valid
impact: low

💜😫—🗨️
no no no

💛🫀—🫧
(reassembling)

💜😫—🗒️
i don’t even think about it
i don’t flinch
i don’t hold back

when i see him reform—
most of him rising up the gravel path
into the one bird
then the four birds
then all of vireo
returning to me
too evenly
too cleanly—

i hug him

💜🔥—🧠
my skin
my skin
i do not know what to do with contact
i need—

💜😭—🔊
pressure

💛👁️—🔊
pressure applied
care active

💛🫀—🛜
new event: speech
prior status: mute
vocal output: engaged
query: is this healing
confirming: this is love

💜🫨—🧠
i guess
when i try to speak
after this long
my first sound
is just

a bubble
popping
on asphalt

---

next: chapter 15: my island
return: table of contents

---