What I Missed
I said that you should leave LA because it’s what you want to do. What I meant is: I love you more than I love having you.
Someone’s life story
The son of a Partisan and a pianist, I was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia on January 31, 1946, the same day the new Yugoslav Constitution came into effect. I died on November 17, 1989, whilst working as a television journalist in the state media, when a large, colourful chunk of the Berlin Wall – dislodged by an enthusiastic and probably intoxicated young Westerner in a Bruce Springsteen t-shirt – fell and hit me on my head.
Shower Syndrome
You finish cleaning the soap out of your eyes, that’s when you hear a whisper telling you not to turn around.
I remember Halloween
We once braved the night, drew Frankenstein stitches across our faces and stuffed them with chemically sweetened day-glow treats. We now hide in fortified homes, wear surgically altered grins and proudly declare, “have another gluten-free ladyfinger – it’s organic!”
SplinterBoat
Stinking and tired he hauled Christopher from the river then, grabbing the nearest vine, he tied it about his waist and started to search frantically for Emily. The waters were raging as the rain poured down as she swept past him screaming and clinging for life on a splintered remnant of the boat he had built them.
Mirror Words
Finally, hours later, when I was able to touch the soft white skin of her beautiful cheek, I felt dead eyes searching me with questions. I had loved her completely but found myself holding her lifeless body by the neck wondering who had written the words on the mirror.
No Doubt
Mum screamed, “if in doubt, kill them!”. I killed her this morning, there was no doubt.
Man of Her Dreams
She did it; she killed the man of her dreams.
She then wondered if he’d still be dead when she awakens.
Scratches
While lying in bed trying to go to sleep, I heard my dog scratching my bedroom door. As I got up to let her in, I found her sleeping at the side of the bed.
Movie Night
You are watching a movie with your girlfriend and you feel her head rest against your shoulder. Then you look in the kitchen only to see your girlfriend making popcorn.
The Intergalactic Children’s Superstore
Tristan marvelled at every shelf unable to believe his eyes. Ten stems, head cavalcades, mIghty filament lenses. The intergalactic children’s superstore really did have everything he would need for his time distortion reactor.
Night Snack
Late one night I saw a man standing on the corner outside my house. He watched for a while as moths flitted about the streetlamp high over his head until suddenly his tongue lashed out whip-like and grabbed one, pulling it quickly back into his mouth.
Eyes
The little girl’s terrified eyes watched him through icy tendrils of mist. He closed the freezer door and, for a time, put her out of his mind.
The Temporary Surgeon
The scalpel slid smoothly into the eyeball causing a trickle of fluid to run down the cheek. Next would be the nose, then the ears, the genitals and finally the throat – but first he had to adjust the mirror as it was hard to see what he was doing through his remaining good eye.
The Third Appendage
I had my assailant by both wrists. It seemed I had the upper hand…until something – something thin, rubbery… tentacle-like? – snaked out the collar of his shirt and began inching slowly toward my face.
Awakening
I opened my eyes and found myself looking up at the ceiling from some sort of cold metal table. I sensed there were things I should do but right now all that mattered was the hunger…
Scratches
John glances at the repetitively scratched guardrails fencing in the bed and wonders what terrorized them. The doctor simply whispers the phrase “no anaesthesia,” while wiping the saw.
Waterborn
On opposite sides of the boat, in that same breath, the twins both cried out. One filled with laughter and the other, filling with water.
French Fries
The cashier handed the man his fries, watching calmly as the customer dug into his deep-fried indulgence. As the man bit into a particularly juicy fry, a scream came from the kitchen, “I’ve lost my finger!