After seventeen weeks of unemployment, and numerous hours of standing in lines at the LRC recruitment facility, Ken Baxter has given up. The Labor Replacement Corps have denied his entry into their ranks, citing over-qualification and a full roster of specialists in his field. "I didn't want to be a Lurker anyway," he tells the … Continue reading Day Thirty-Two – Rabbits and Other Lies (or, Rockclimbing for Krakens)
Day Thirty-One – Absolutely the Green Frog Bureau, LLC
Heat. It's what I know as the tunnel widens and the door at the end of this long journey begins to open. It's the brief end to a long day. Eventful and darkened with the wet sheen of closure, this is the day I become more than a man. In darkness, I slip away into … Continue reading Day Thirty-One – Absolutely the Green Frog Bureau, LLC
Day Thirty – Quality Stock Tips From an Okapi (or, Mr. China Has Seven Splinters)
--- TRecTm5.2218.14.11.x.x Rprt -22.22.511.5.5.167.3.7.vv.20491 Earth Interplanetary Logistics and Colonization - Robotic Recon Team - Report - Assmt. 17501.R.TR73 ||\\|| BEGIN REPORT ||\\|| WRECKAGE OF ARTEMIS LANDER : MSN TtnRcn2203 : CONFIRMED ENVIRONMENT SEALS BROKEN ID OF FOUR OF FIVE TEAM MEMBERS CONFIRMED DOCTOR ABRAHAM TOLLE: DECEASED, BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA PTY OFR RAYMOND GILFREY: DECEASED, CAROTID … Continue reading Day Thirty – Quality Stock Tips From an Okapi (or, Mr. China Has Seven Splinters)
Day Twenty-Nine – Papercut Moseby’s Left Withered
There is darkness and sound--a repetitive thud and scraping of metal. I feel heat radiating around me, and I feel trapped and claustrophobic. I cannot move my body more than a few inches in any direction. There are walls surrounding me, lined with soft silk. I feel myself pressed against a cushion to my back--laying … Continue reading Day Twenty-Nine – Papercut Moseby’s Left Withered
Day Twenty-Eight – A Message Written in Mustard Beneath a Park Bench in a Secluded Spot Near the Lake Where Maddie Gantt Found the Possum With the Eye Infection
If you were to find yourself so inclined to dive into that mirror, you would likely find me halfway through that diamond maelstrom, regarding you with disdain from some reflective abode - perhaps a corner of shattered glass, an edge, a wink of light among thousands. That's what you want, and you know it - … Continue reading Day Twenty-Eight – A Message Written in Mustard Beneath a Park Bench in a Secluded Spot Near the Lake Where Maddie Gantt Found the Possum With the Eye Infection
Day Twenty-Seven – We Who Are About to Sigh, Salute You
What follows is a list of things no human knows about me. What follows are instances in the great effluvia of creation in which I have found myself directly in control of God's hand, like a golf instructor reaches around his student as their hips swing in unison. What you are about to read is … Continue reading Day Twenty-Seven – We Who Are About to Sigh, Salute You
Day Twenty-Six – The Epic and Sudden Fall of the Gant Family
I estimate one thousand degrees, give or take. My rear-view mirror sags in the heat, and as I drive I see only my hand gripping the gear stick. My car has become a death trap–-every inch a study in the surface temperature of Mercury. I look at the empty pill bottle in the only … Continue reading Day Twenty-Six – The Epic and Sudden Fall of the Gant Family
Day Twenty-Five – Overture for Three Oboes and an Empty Detergent Bottle
The descent is not so bad as we were told. There is a significant amount of depth to the mental experience of falling from heights above our intended pay range. We have gone beyond the pinnacle of man's real desire and stopped short of our gods' coattails. We did not even reach for them, bless … Continue reading Day Twenty-Five – Overture for Three Oboes and an Empty Detergent Bottle
Day Twenty-Four – Encrypted Message Follows, DNAC – 9SNXX – GHOTIS
Alphabet soup, through a sieve, naught but ones. A million, if you are so gluttonous. No zeroes. Attend.
Day Twenty-Three – To The Sound Quiet of Self-Maintenance
- get you your you're calculator trix on we best by but - Without you watch with you’re you trundled Thomas What would your with working you? with where would With transport Your you was with you, You’re you what us. whirred the watch wanted to you upgrade. you with, your you water week, … Continue reading Day Twenty-Three – To The Sound Quiet of Self-Maintenance
Day Twenty-Two – All Aboard for Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Pancakes
"Yes, Chef," Remi Grismain barks. Chef Garret departs the kitchen to attend to something in the dining room. Remi watches him go, then sighs. With the last of the tomatoes cored and skinned, the apprentice dumps them unceremoniously into a blender and sets it for purée. He takes a moment, as the tomatoes turn to … Continue reading Day Twenty-Two – All Aboard for Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Pancakes
Day Twenty-One – There Will Be Redundancies
Avery Drew is an excellent patient in his waking life. In fact, if the good Dr. Hines were to be of a mind to pick favorites among the subjects in this particular experiment, Avery Drew, aged nine years, would definitely hold the top spot. Hines is cautious about his fraternization with the patient, and for … Continue reading Day Twenty-One – There Will Be Redundancies
Day Twenty – The Last Vestiges of an Inappropriate Man
As is typically the case with events that can be considered to have changed the course of history, through intense and diligent research, and by deconstructing the progression of individual tributaries that, as a whole, make up the entirety of the catastrophic or productive event in question, one can trace the series of cause and … Continue reading Day Twenty – The Last Vestiges of an Inappropriate Man
Day Nineteen – Andrew Lost His Keys While George is Engulfed in Flames
On the third day, the grand and omnipotent entity known as Va'alamyr walked the grounds of his creation. He reveled in the squeakiness of the wet grass beneath his bare feet. He turned his eyes to the blinding sun he had created two days earlier and saw that it was good. The trees were coming … Continue reading Day Nineteen – Andrew Lost His Keys While George is Engulfed in Flames
Day Eighteen – 15 Reasons Why the Person Next to You Will Likely Burst Into Flames
Judith, again, turning her head over her shoulder just before she disappears around the corner. It is cold, but with a tepid wind in the canyons of the greater metropolis. I can feel the wind knife around that mysterious corner, that exit from stage center, and she has disappeared into it - extant but extorted … Continue reading Day Eighteen – 15 Reasons Why the Person Next to You Will Likely Burst Into Flames
Day Seventeen – His Most Holy Purveyor of the Remedy to My Madness
"Lift your eyes to the light above you. The cleansing god of ages descends to this mortal coil in fury, and, for our future, he brings tidings of empty joy. This ground upon which we quiver, cowering on bent knee, praying for deliverance is not ours. We came to this land, and toiled in its … Continue reading Day Seventeen – His Most Holy Purveyor of the Remedy to My Madness
Day Sixteen – Numbness in the Toes
Metal men and bloodsucking aliens would be preferable. There are hints of lavender in the sky among the oranges and pinks. Thomas likes lavender. Thomas's sweater is coming unraveled. On this day, Thomas rises from his bed and begins to unravel himself from life, from responsibility, and from the oppressive gaze of the okapi skeleton … Continue reading Day Sixteen – Numbness in the Toes
Day Fifteen – A Public Apology for Events That Occurred on Easter 1993, Wolverhampton, UK
Time is running out and this is the zero hour. For you, the reader, it takes just a few seconds to make a lifetime of difference in the life of someone else, and I am politely asking you, if you are a fan of mad science, cacophony, and imminent destruction, to please donate even a … Continue reading Day Fifteen – A Public Apology for Events That Occurred on Easter 1993, Wolverhampton, UK
Day Fourteen – Counting Backwards From Zero While Drowning
Defeat. Breath stutters. Fingertips tickle snow. Just beside, a body. Not deceased, no, not yet. Depressed perhaps, and languishing in doubt. He sees his reflection in skies above. Like the stone he is, he remains patient. A spear extends from his chest, a war wound. As he breathes shallowly, he hears the sound of battle. … Continue reading Day Fourteen – Counting Backwards From Zero While Drowning
Day Thirteen – Twisted Machinations of the 5th Street Mediocre Virtuoso
Nash has just been punched in the face for the first time. The feeling is like falling from the top of a lighthouse, but finding yourself mired in the beam, suspended above the crashing waves in a blinding light, while orbiting the spire of the lighthouse itself at mach speed. His neck snaps back, jostling … Continue reading Day Thirteen – Twisted Machinations of the 5th Street Mediocre Virtuoso
