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Chapter: Chapter 7: Antlers

  • Talita frowns and shakes her head. Talita: (ASL) I don’t have eyebrows. Gillie: (ASL) You’ve got those… uh… white eyelids? Talita: (English) My nictitating membranes?  She squints the two white inner "eyelids" that lie underneath her outer feathered eyelids. Talita: (English) I do use them to imitate human expressions. I picked it up as a kid. It's kind of a reflex now. Gillie: (ASL) Try mimicking the eyebrow signals with them. Talita grasps her neck nervously and stares off into the distance, considering this. Talita: (English) Oh… I… I don’t know… It wouldn’t really… look similar… Gillie looks at the transcription on her phone, unimpressed. She puts it down and flutters a hand to distract Talita from her anxious spiral. Gillie: (ASL) Hey hey hey hey! Stop over-thinking. Copy me.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 193

    Aug 12, 2025

  • Talita signs “Did anything interesting happen at work today?” in ASL. Each sign is drawn in the accompanying ASL translation. ASL TRANSLATION: TODAY YOUR WORK ANYTHING INTERESTING HAPPEN ? Gilie: (ASL) Good! But... She imitates Talita's question mark sign, a wiggling index finger. Gilie: I probably wouldn't use "?", I'd just sign the sentence with raised eyebrows. She demonstrates, signing a truncated version of the sentence: "Did anything interesting happen?" ASL TRANSLATION: ANYTHING INTERESTING HAPPEN (raised eyebrows indicating "?")

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 192

    Aug 09, 2025

  • The doctor holds up a large round sticker with a rocketship on it and smiles. Dr. Henriques: Would a sticker make you feel better? Talita looks back over her shoulder at the sticker with wide, plaintive eyes. Later, Talita is sitting in the park on a picnic blanket behind the human apartments, in conversation with Gillie. She is wearing the sticker on her tank top.  Gillie: (ASL) Ask me questions in sign! Talita nods and holds up her hands.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 191

    Aug 07, 2025

  • The doctor turns away from Talita to do something at the sink counter, and Talita begins to slide her legs off the operation table. Dr. Henriques: Well, if you want your cycle to be more regular– Talita: I know, I know. The doctor turns around the points at Talita, who freezes. Dr. Henriques: Hold still. One more. Talita: Another?? Dr. Henriques: We’re finally getting you up to date. She smiles and hold up another needle. Talita grimaces and grips her arm as the doctor administers another injection. Talita: It's not like there's anyone here I could swap germs with… Dr. Henriques: Orders from the top, Miss Dospaço. The doctor covers the last injection site with a wad of gauze and tapes it down, tearing off the piece of tape with her thumb. SFX: Riiip Talita walks out of the pan-sophont operation room, gripping the injection sites on her right side while ducking under the rolling garage door. Talita: Ow. I’m gonna be limping all day.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 190

    Aug 05, 2025

  • Chapter 7: Antlers A closeup of Talita's antler shows the thin, soft coating of brown integument on the velvet skin. The bone underneath is about 30 centimeters long now. Her mouth is tight with a suppressed grimace and she is gripping her neck in discomfort. Dr. Henriques: They grew in again, huh? Talita: Yeah, third time this year. A wider shot shows Talita is sitting up on a tall, multi-segmented hydraulic operation table in a white tiled room with medical posters on the walls. She is in casual clothes, and the doctor is injecting a syringe into the muscles of her mid-shoulder. She already has a patch on her fore-shoulder from a previous injection. Talita looks like she'd rather be anywhere else. Dr. Henriques: Have you been sleeping at least 12 hours a day? Talita: ...Mostly… Dr. Henriques: And limiting your activity during the winter light cycle? Talita: I walk so much for work, I don't think it matters whether or not I do weights…

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 189

    Aug 02, 2025

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