BLUSH

By Ben Greenman

from forthcoming collection, as yet untitled

The impending consolidation of six souls into one body raises an interesting problem of nomenclature, though it is unlikely that the half-dozen young adults being amalgamated will consent to having their individual identities entirely erased with the assumption of a new name. There is a precedent in the full merging of a man and a woman last year, who then took on the name Thomas, which means twin, and the Sanskrit name Yama, adopted by a female and male soul fused into a single body earlier this year, has a similar origin. History records a few examples of triple melds renamed as Trey and at least one occurrence of a quartet of souls bound together and denominated Kaneonuskatew, from the Cree for “four claws.” Though half of those being federated—Ezra, Wren, and Thomasina—have at least one Japanese parent, they are not well-versed in their heritage, and as a result Roku, while fitting, remains an improbable selection. Whatever the result, the future being is sure to traffic in comity and tenderness. “I have wanted to be part of Al, Moira, and Ezra for so long,” said Wren, “and I’m sure that all of the rest feel the same about all of the rest, or at least all of the rest feel that way about most of the rest. I can remember first meeting Al in my early twenties. I was coming out of a bad relationship and killing time in a worse one, and he helped me carry furniture up the stairs to my new apartment. It was raining and I was in a t-shirt and shorts and nothing else—nothing—so it’s possible that I made an impression. Blush. But he made one as well. I couldn’t believe there was anyone who was so kind and so strange at the same time. A singular human, to be sure. Do people say that, really, ‘to be sure’? And now I will be part of him, and him of me. We’ll never be apart. We’ve slept together, but this is going to be better: brain rubbing against brain, a soft internal spark that is nothing but glow.” Others in the group, less effusive than Wren, nevertheless appear every bit as sanguine about the prospect. No one mentioned Keith.