The light was painful and unfamiliar. It nipped at the eyelids and chewed the pupils of the newly awoken. Conditioned air knifed at the fugitive's exposed skin; starched cloth, bright white, irritated the rest of its body. It involuntarily cringed in the chair it was strapped to. The impulse to curl into a ball fought … Continue reading Day Thirty-Seven – Pampers For All Us Kids
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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-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 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 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 Twelve – Marzipan Cottage For Sale
In the early hours of the fifteenth day of August, several men accosted a local doctor on the dirt road, more adequately described as a game trail during that particular season, between Harris township and Bixby's Box. The bandits, four in total, shot Dr. Malcom Renn in the throat and left him for dead in … Continue reading Day Twelve – Marzipan Cottage For Sale
Day Nine – Biggles Splits the Atom and Other Quaint Tales of Death
Daphne rises out of bed, leaving it still occupied as she does so, and drags her toes in graceful steps towards the bathroom. The light was left on through night, and she cannot recall if it was herself--perhaps the scotch-drunk male in her bed--who had last visited the tiled closet. She kicks a pile of … Continue reading Day Nine – Biggles Splits the Atom and Other Quaint Tales of Death
Day Five – Wednesday’s Positronic Void
My dreams have taken a turn to the aweless waste. When formerly I could traverse the dreamscape of candywine waterfalls and purple glory sunrises with consistency, the night journeys have descended into the dimensions of the mundane. And excessively so, my waking life begins to beg the attention I normally reserve for the infinite. Long … Continue reading Day Five – Wednesday’s Positronic Void