heart

On the second track, “Bumpy,” what sounds like a sonic rendering of an exploding box of crayons leads to a throbbing pulse that could be a sentient computer’s ticking heart.

The Cleveland Clinic says the condition is a result of insufficient oxygen in a person’s blood and is commonly caused by heart and lung conditions.

I avert my eyes, open my hand, and trace the pattern on the inside of my palm—two stylized hearts, one atop the other, locked in an eternal headbutting competition.

Each time was like a tiny jab, till Penelope’s heart felt as full of pins as the lumpy red pincushion carried by Madame LePoint, the dressmaker at Ashton Place.

Penelope willed her heart not to race as she led them up the lightless stairs.