One amavasai night, I went out to the garden to summon a witch. I knelt. Sank my hands into the earth. Planted my dreams.

She materialised in a bramble of bougainvillea. In the darkness, her teeth glittered. I imagined how it would feel to have them sunk into the soft inside of my wrist.

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I asked her to show me Love.

She parted her lips, drew from the back of her mouth a spool of golden wire.

I took it. Held it taut. Watched it open gashes in my palms, watched how all that red-soaked gold still glowed 

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I asked her, "What is it for?"

She shifted her head. I blinked. More gold wire, layers and layers of it, coiled innocently around her neck.

She smiled, "An ornament. A weapon. Whichever you choose.