“Cat’s Cradle” is a tiny story about mimicking someone. It’s not quite sci-fi, but it feels like it…maybe because it was inspired by a scene near the end of Annihilation. (I won’t spoil the movie and neither does the zine.)
Here’s the full text of the story:
It’s like playing cat’s cradle,
but we aren’t using string.
I do one thing.
She does something else that feels like…
an extension. A continuation.
And then we swap.
She does one thing—
says a phrase, draws some lines, moves her arm
just so.
I extend—
a line of poetry, a floral doodle, a yoga pose.
And then we swap.
The training protocol doesn’t specify how to teach.
Just that I’m supposed to.
I report progress back to the team.
And then we swap.
