NINE TIME MACHINES: Do you want to undo your entire life on planet earth?

CHAPTER 117

"Let's play a game, Mary." Her voice is warm and toasty. "You see that table over there?"

"Yes."

"Choose one thing at a time. Share it with me and I'll return the favour. You got that?"

"No problem."

The table has three silver bowls on it, each filled with something; milk; melon; and soil with some kind of particles in it. What the hell! You know what? I can't be bothered. I walk back and hand her the bowl of milk. She drinks half then gives me it back.

"Strange. It doesn't taste like any milk I've ever had. What is it?"

"Goat's milk."

"Why the hell would anyone in their right mind drink goat's milk?" I ask but get no response.

Then suddenly the words in her eyes and roughness on her face clear off like unwanted dust.

"What the hell!"

"Shush, Mary! Go get the other bowl."

I stagger back to the table, stealing glances over my shoulder on the way there, just to see if this is some silly magic trick. By the time I return, Qira's robe is off. She's dressed in a skimpy red dress, rough arms and legs parading with pride, just like those women in the hospital room. She gobbles half the bowl as before then hands it to me. I wait. Nothing happens.

"We like speed," she says simply. "Your problem is you take too long to decide. Now eat!"

I stuff what's left of the watermelon into my mouth. It happens much slower this time. Block by block, Qira's skin loses the one thing I've wanted to lose since birth. Not my mother, my sanity or dignity; and mostly not Lily. Just this horrible stain of shame I've been trying to hide so I could fit in with normal people. I rush back to the table for the last silver bowl.

"Pour the water in and mix before you bring it," Qira says.

I do as instructed. She drinks. I hurry mine down to see what will happen next. After all, she – I, whatever – looks absolutely perfect. Why even try anything else? Perhaps this last bowl is for my benefit. Maybe it's my turn to transform. Could be I already have. I lift my own arms to drink in this newfound perfection. They're still the same though. I look back at Qira. Was this all just a trick to sink her teeth into me? Push my button until it sticks? Remind me of the one thing I've spent my whole life trying to erase? How cruel of her! But even as I'm thinking it, the tape rewinds itself, and all that we've accomplished fades away. She becomes the Mary I hate all over again.