Rouge: A Novel

Mira wakes in a white chair in a room filled with fog. She sees another woman, and neither can remember who they are after their treatments. They also have trouble remembering words, but they ask each other how they look. They each confirm that the other is beautiful.

Mira and the other woman, whom she decides to call Lake because of her face’s smoothness, find themselves in a long line with other women in white silk robes. They speculate about whether the woman in red and the twins in silver at the front of the line are handing out their possessions so they can leave. Lake points out that one of the jellyfish in the tank beside the line is following Mira. The woman in red gives Mira a bag of clothes, who says they are not hers. The woman says they are, and that Mira is home. There will be a feast, and those who just received their treatments are the guests of honor. She tells Mira to remove her red shoes and Eye of Horus bracelet, but they won’t come off.