Book of Numbers: A Novel (29 page)

, or
—all
expressions founded on the kinship of possession. But, notably, each glyph also served
as a chronometer, a timeline of a pastless futureless single day, with each of the four
prongs divided into six hours, for a total of 24:

Primary rotations of the
had secondary modifications:
indicating the
happy/sad continuum,
the
sleepiness/wakefulness
continuum,
hunger/thirst,
and
health/infirmity, with the intensity of whichever condition being expressed by the
location of the primary’s junction with the secondary:
indicating very
happy,
moderately
happy,