Thursday, July 25, 2002

Just as an experiment, I thought I'd post a short blah kinda story. Hope you enjoy.


Leave Your Nose In

I open my door to find a jackrabbit sprawled across the road, on his back. Determined to escape my car seat, I set out amongst my brother cacti, standing defiantly in the desert wind. Without great effort, I manage to trip and land on my neck. Practically breaking it in the process. Bloodied from the experience, getting up takes more energy minus the hydration.

Two steps more into the white; steam rises from the engine block. While I crawl on my feet, my Ford heaves its last breath. No matter, I’ll just hitch a ride from some unsuspecting Samaritan. The knife in my hand hums a wicked ditty at the thought.

My sweat has evaporated from the red skin on my back. The wind picks up speed and kicks up dust into my eyes and mouth. The grit tastes like day-old bread.

The sparse blades of grass smile and laugh at me. I’m not the only one lacking moisture. Let’s just pretend we don’t hear them. I look at my left hand, half expecting my knife, half expecting my hand being gnawed off by a coyote. What I do get to see is a half-empty palm covered in searing blisters. If it hadn’t been for that fire, maybe I’d still have that dream of being a multi-million-dollar hand model.

Now I’m circling the landing zone. It’s almost a craterous mass of empty land, but the screaming air is thick enough to obscure its girth. I’d swear there were animals, but things are starting to get sloppy. My foot doesn't work anymore. I think I’ve been dragging it for hours now.

Out the window’s where she threw her voice. My brand new “borrowed” Rolex smiled at me with the sheen of the sun on its face. While stars exploded against my fist, N’Sync drones away on the radio. The sound of you-didn’t-have-to-hit-me smacks my right eardrum, and I remember to dump the excess cargo out the passenger side. It rolls with dull, animal, thuds across the prairie: A human tumbleweed.

A metallic glint catches the milkiness of my third eye. One of my fillings comes out at the same time and I spit out the solid pain. Folding in half, I pick up a patch of human hair, turn around, walk away, and follow the yellow strip towards the mushroom cloud in my future…

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