Karli had never believed in life after death, even after all her father had taught her. And yet now, when she was so close to reversing it the notion that he might not want it reversed tugged the edge of her every thought, sleeping and waking. She had done all the preliminary work, the scientific trials, the proof of concept. Of course, it hadn't gone quite right with the dog. She’d had to put it down again after it started eating away at its own legs, but with a human it would be different. It would work because she was going to ask first. Osteomancy, her father had taught her, is divination with bone. Human bone works best. Even better the bones of the subject themselves if you are trying to pierce beyond the veil. She had read his words, the books she despised her father writing as a child, over and over now. She had made the bones. Was ready to cast them, to ask. Her dear, departed father lying frozen in a morgue would finally be able to hold his little girl again. At least in one arm.
This is an entry for the @vermillionfox contest here: @vermillionfox/week-11-fox-tales-announcing-the-next-story-image-and-winners