Her

From the Field Notebook and Personal Journal of Dr. Cordelia Newton

Asosa, Ethiopia

10.0634° N, 34.5407° E

September 8, 2000

Specimen discovered in Zone 2A, 8:52AM. Full australopithecus skeleton. Female. Minimal

damage sustained, likely due to collisions with sediment and natural decay. Approximate age of

specimen: 3 million years. A spectacular discovery for this research expedition.

It is also spectacular for myself as an archeologist. This research trip has been fruitless for

months now, and my superiors back in New York have been demanding a new find. They have

no idea how taxing this research is, digging through the grime all day, beaten down by this god

awful heat, just to discover an empty pit with maybe a few pieces of broken pottery or a tiny

arrowhead. I feared funding was about to be cut. But now I can continue this mission for who

knows how long, thanks to this find. Thanks to Her.

September 17, 2000

Australopithecus specimen fully excavated and examined in field lab this week. Upon closer

look, I have determined that specimen was killed by blunt force trauma to skull, likely by other

australopithecus or predator. Specimen was around 32 years old. Same as me. Other injuries

include a broken ankle sustained around early to mid 20s. Same as me. Uterus shows no signs of

childbirth or pregnancy. Average weight and build for a specimen of Her stature. She lived an

average life despite Her early injury and eventual death.

Although She appears to be a relatively bland specimen in terms of what new discoveries we can

glean about Her species, I find myself spending more and more time in the lab. The scent of dirt

and rot has always bothered me, but I have no issues with it when I enter Her room. I barely take

measurements or record data anymore, I just stay there feeling the curves of Her bones and

imagining what Her hair must have looked like. Or felt like. We lived millions of years apart, but

I feel like I know Her. Or maybe the sleep deprivation is finally starting to get to me. I’m still in

the lab. I need to turn in.

September 23, 2000

Computer simulation of what Her body likely looked like came back today. She’s much smaller

than average for Her species at the time. Her figure is almost completely humanoid; tibia and

femur are notably of average size to homosapiens. Facial features are slim. Almost dainty.

Overall, specimen appears to be nothing at all like the brutish specimens found before Her.

Looking at these pixels, the image of Her trapped behind the screen, the typical person would

think She was killed last week, a Midwestern girl-next-door struck down before Her prime. She

is a remarkable divergence from those before Her.

I’ve named Her Alice. Her expression on the screen is so innocent, She looks as if She’s falling

down the rabbit hole. And I’ve never been able to shed the nickname of Queen of Hearts since

spending a few hours too long in the cadaver lab in graduate school. I would never harm Alice,

but I imagine us as interlinked counterparts nonetheless, two characters bound by the same story.

September 30, 2000

Remainder of site surrounding Alice came up empty. No fellow specimens or signs of

civilization.

I am beginning to think coworkers are growing jealous of my discovery. My late night

examination sessions are being preyed upon; Perkins wants to file a complaint against me to

supervisors as it’s apparently “not fair” I get the most time in the lab with Her. As if I didn’t

discover Her.

I hear the whispers around camp when I enter the room. It’s always been this way; people are

threatened by my dedication to the work. So they gossip. They cut me off. They try to tear me

down with schoolyard insults, missing lunch invites, outlandish rumors that I’m... inappropriate

with the bodies I examine. It’s ridiculous how such educated adults behave, but I’m used to it

now. And I have Her now. To talk my frustrations out to. To cry to. To hold, when no prying eyes

are around.

October 15, 2000

Further examinations are coming up empty. No additional data has been discovered since

preliminary screenings. Research donors are visiting shortly to view Alice. They have then

requested Her to be moved to museum in New York for public display within the week.

They can’t just take Her away. Put Her in a glass box in some frigid museum in some country

She’s never known where kids will stare and tap on the glass and laugh and never know who She

really is. She’s meant to be here with me. With someone who cares about Her. Who wants to

know Her story. Who sees Her for who She really is. Who understands.

I’ve taken to sleeping in the lab. I spend so much time poring over the data, analyzing every inch

of Her, grasping at straws just to find something new so I can keep Her in this damn dustbowl a

few more weeks with me. I only dream of Her. Her long hair swaying in the wind, her dainty

hands holding mine and never letting go, Her toothy smile radiating joy at me just because of the

sound of my voice in Her ear. The dream always ends the same way. We embrace in the meadow,

watching the stars, kissing, exploring each other. But the meadow rots away to the dusty pit Her

body was found in and I wake up drenched in sweat, next to Her bones.

This time was different. As the meadow began to rot I could feel dust and grime covering my

hands. Her supple skin started to turn to just bones on the table. My mouth filled with bile and

mud and my teeth began to grind against chunks of gravel. When I opened my eyes, I was in the

fetal position next to Her on the table. My hands gripped Her left ulna, close to snapping the

bone in half. My mouth was attached to the end, sucking on it with the passion of a toddler. I

couldn’t even detach for the first few seconds of consciousness, it felt like it was second nature

to me.

I didn’t shower off until I had to report at the lab again in the morning. I wanted Her on me for as

long as I could.

October 30, 2000

Research donors arrived at base today and surveyed Her. They are highly impressed with the

preservation of the body and my work examining Her. They arranged for a helicopter to take Her

body to the States. Tonight. And upon seeing the lack of discoveries in the surrounding site and

considering the staleness of the research as a whole these past eight months, they have

terminated the project early. We will all be on a plane home by tomorrow morning.

I can’t let them take Her.

October 30, 2000 (Second Entry)

Helicopter just touched down. I hear the blades whirring outside. I need to act fast.

October 30, 2000 (Third Entry)

Something horrible has happened.

I successfully made my way into the lab around 11:50pm. I shoved Her bones into a duffel,

sliding them off the table in one massive sweep of my arm. I know Her inside and out, I can put

Her bones back together with my eyes closed. I just need to get Her out of here fast. But as soon

as I zipped up the duffel and dusted myself off, he entered. Perkins. It took seconds for him to

start screaming at me. I was right all along, he spat at me. You’re a freak who fucks dead bodies

and you were never mentally stable enough to ever work on this project. And now you’ll never

work again.

But as soon as he stepped forward, I had already reached into the duffel and grabbed the pointed

end of Her lower left rib. Before he could say another word or try to grab me, the bone was

already stuck into his chest. He collapsed with a shout and I stared at him as the life left his eyes.

I couldn’t look for long. I ripped the bone from him, blood spurting into my eyes as I ran. I ran as

far as I could. Away from the panicked shouts of my colleagues, the helicopter whirring, the dust

swirling in the night breeze.

We’re finally going to be free, Her and I.

November 1, 2000

Excerpt from The Asosa Gazette

Tragedy struck the archeological research center in Asosa earlier this week as Dr. Cordelia

Newton stabbed and killed fellow researcher Dr. Mason Perkins with a bone from a newly

discovered and fully intact australopithecus skeleton. The skeleton was an incredible discovery

by Newton, as her superiors reported, but her colleagues had other thoughts. “She was

dangerously attached to those bones,” says fellow researcher Dr. Elliana Ward. “Even in grad

school, she always had an unhealthy obsession with the bodies we studied. She had never been

able to separate living from dead.”

When the Australopithecus skeleton was set to be sent off to a museum in the States, she

allegedly experienced a “psychotic break,” attempting to steal the bones before killing Perkins

for trying to stop her. She then fled to a field near the site, hiding in a cave. She was soon

discovered by police, who attempted to procure her surrender. However, Newton allegedly began

“running out of the cave,” presumably to attack police, and was shot dead.

Upon examining the cave, first responders discovered Newton had rearranged the bones of the

Australopithecus perfectly on the ground. In an ironic twist, Newton’s corpse laid perfectly next

to the skeleton, joining her in death.

Julia Cote

Julia Coté is a screenwriter, playwright, and flash fiction author based in New York City.
ig: @julia.cote

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