A Decade Short: Stories

Bryan Fahrenheit only took a few steps until the familiarity had dissipated. There was a sensation throughout his body that made him want to turn away.   What kept Bryan gravitating towards the lamp was curiosity.   A flip of a switch and the rotten upholstery was illuminated. The dankness everywhere caused Bryan to gip. There was a sepia tinge to the room caused by the unread newspapers stacked on the edges of the walls.   He choked on the stench of burnt out cigarette butts; pools of stale Budweiser washed the char in ashtrays. Bags of shit were shattered throughout the apartment among month old pizza boxes and their residences consisting of pizza ends, rat faeces and their dead young.   It was Jeff’s place.   Bryan last drank with Jeff in a gay bar that was opened after hours in the dark alleys in the city centre.   The staff knew them. They were regular patrons who would tip and at times go along with half enthused small talk. The friendliness was a ch...

Falling 12,500 feet from the ground the Cessna 172 Skyhalk leaves Milo, he sees Earth below him. It appears to be insignificant and pointless.  He wonders there and then if there is any true point to life and whether all existence is birth falling to death. He ponders if the womb is the blue sky and death is but the blue ocean. Blue to blue. There was comfort in that thought. Another 1,000 feet down, the distance passed in seconds. Milo span his body to look up into the clouds.  He had imagined being this far up into the world he might be able to see the universe, or better yet, some stars. He was disappointed he could not.  He was unaware that he could have always seen the universe from where ever he was. If he had only known the universe was all encompassing. However, he did not. Milo was now 10,000 feet from the ground. His body spun 1440 degrees but he did not feel nauseous. He had no control of his life and he was embracing this gift. 8,000 feet were le...

                                                                    For John. No one ever expects the road to go on forever, looking into the abyss I began to wonder if this road would ever end.   Seeing horizons appear and fade in the distance there was something very therapeutic about riding this bus.   Maybe it’s that my life is in the hands of a total stranger controlling a machine that could potentially murder anyone who stepped callously in front of them, or maybe it’s the rumbling of the engine that beat against my head as I let it rivet off the window.    Either way I was being escorted to my shitty little town in a shitty bus tha...

Omni- (Latin) everywhere, everything. Chrono/Chron- (Latin) indication of time/time itself. The Present- box full of poison Time is a ruthless bitch that makes you sure you don’t forget where you went wrong.   On my path to redemption I tried to redeem one of those wrongs.   There must have been twenty drunken messages sent, some poetic, others downright disgustingly rude.   But I like to consider myself a man of versatility. She was there in my life so prominently, it was a strange feeling knowing she’d never be there again.   I could see her face as I woke up every morning, she would be so peaceful only a true sinner would want to wake an angel from a slumber like that.   And I’d just watch as her chest rose and fell.    She’d make breathing so majestic it was like a ballet, finely tuned; practiced and provoking emotions I never knew I had.   It was a thousand things to tell me it was love.   She’d groom me like a primitive ape, bursting p...