Aurora 2026

Krislyn Moreland

different, it became an addiction, you could say. It felt like a part of me that no longer belonged was finally free. A part of Lucy I could give some peace. With every donation her voice in my head got quieter. I imagine it’s Sally who writes me the emails. I know, I shouldn’t be giving out my email on the dark web, but it requires one for the service. About a week or month or so after every donation, I get an email stating that my donations have been put to good use. I know it’s a form email because apparently, I’ve donated several different times to a Chad from San Diego who enjoys Paw Patrol, and I know he is living a very happy life after my donation cured his chronic something or other. They bring me into the familiar white-tiled operating room, where two people in scrubs stand waiting for my gurney and hospital-gown-clad body to be placed in front of them. One sits on a stool and places the mask over my face. “Count back from 10,” the man’s gravelly voice says. I hear Lucy’s voice doing it for me. 10, 9, 8, Hey, if you keep going at this rate, they are going to have to drag you into the van. 7, 6, 5. How many procedures is this now, 5? 4, 3. I wonder if you had had vodka instead of beer that night if you might have swerved in the right direction. 2. After all of these donations, what do you think will be left of you to bury when the lack of some organ finally kills you? Or maybe fate will pull a good one, maybe a car crash. 1. The first time I was terrified, as any rational human being would be. I shook the whole time we were in the car. Back then, it was a man I had nicknamed Sal (only in my head) who had collected me. Sal didn’t like to talk and didn’t bother to wear business professional clothes. He came in a black T-shirt and black jeans and said little more than three sentences to me. I like to think he’s how they weed out the crazy and uncommitted people. The reward for longtime service is Sally. I guess it was about the fourth time that when they dropped me off at the subway station, I felt the chill of the night air hit particularly hard. I felt like I had poured

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