WAX by Matthew Stott
I built a son from wax. I named him Harris. Harris was a hair under two feet tall with a scampish twist to his features. I loved him immediately, which was a real relief as I was generally the sort of woman that didn’t love things, especially people. But there I was, ga-ga in love. It was like I was a completely different person. There was the me before Harris and the me after. The me before Harris was a total arsehole, the kind of jerk that would merrily spit on an old lady given half a chance, but this new me, post-Harris, was as good as it gets.
I’d collected the wax over the span of seven or eight years whilst working at my uncle’s funeral home. I’d teased it gently from the ear canals of all the bodies that came through. I could easily have laid my hands on great quantities of other kinds of wax to complete my project sooner, but I passionately believed that for Harris to truly be my son, he had to be constructed of human matter, not beeswax or anything like that. It just made sense. I added plenty of my own wax into the mix, of course, I wanted to make sure he took after his mother.
‘Harris,’ I said, ‘say Mummy.’ He looked at me blankly. ‘Say Mummy. Say Mummy, Harris.’ Harris refused. I guess I got angry at him then, threw a shit fit of some kind, because the world turned all fizzy-pink and echo and when everything settled down again an hour had passed and Harris was in eight mushed pieces on the floor. There was wax on the bottom of my shoes and between my teeth. I gathered Harris up and stuck him back together; it didn’t take long. ‘That’s okay, son, we can take everything at your speed. You’re brand new. My little baby-boo.’ I hugged him tight, then used a spatula to smooth out any dents I’d just created. Being a mother is tough, but there’s no doubt it’s the best gig in the whole wide world. I tried to feed him but he wouldn’t latch on to either breast. I tried not to take it personally.
Matthew Stott has been published in The Ghastling, Maudlin House, The Other Stories, and elsewhere. Find him on Instagram and on BlueSky.
