Monacelli x Phaidon
Anthony Cudahy’s Spinneret: The Remaining Days
May 2024
Lily was happy in her midway pains. She had heard the name in another way: “weirding,” as in organisms adapting or evolving in-real-time to hotter temperatures. When things are stable, one takes to specialization. But things were unstable, overheating. She heard of thunderous icequakes, sea levels going up, and constant tempests. A song on the radio mentioned not caring if mercury was rising and it was normal to place one’s phone in the freezer to cool off. Pushed into compliance, Lily took to adapting. She wasn’t disappointed to be leaving behind specialization in favor of a more generalist approach to the remaining days. She had broken a cycle. Hell yeah, she thought I’m in Muncie, Indiana with my daughter-in-law and her son is gay. It was time to redecorate. She grabbed a mirror. It went blood red. Move that next, she mumbled, disgusted at the medieval apocalypse tapestry nearby. She hoped generalizing would rub off on her kin. Her grandson had a lisp. She didn’t think being gay was about specialization but something else. Generally speaking, lots of people stick to men. Her phone shivered in the freezer.