I was born with a tree branch on one side instead of an arm. The doctor diagnosed it as a kind of parasitic infection previously known only in plants; I was the first ever human carrier of a plant-par...

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Jie, are you listening? I want to tell you this story the way you would want to hear it.

My knees trembled under the weight of my jamun plant. I hefted it up my hip, wincing when the sapling twisted through my heart.

Wooden teeth, a painted snarl, fur around the crown. A mask meant to terrify winter itself into retreat. Meant to keep the things that lurk in the shadows at bay.

Fingers twisted from arthritis. A wet bandage over his right hand seeping a wound the local healer had inflicted. Trying, failing, to fix a hand only decade shy of a century.