Vexation Lullaby (2016)
“A white dwarf of a headache throbs at the base of my skull. The bed is beside me. At some point in the night, after dreaming I was suffocating, I relocated to the braided rug.
My tongue is a fossil. I pull myself to the sink, where nausea shakes me. I shuck my clothes and climb into the shower, but though I turn the handles like an Etch A Sketch, the water doesn’t come. I make a rude orchestration on the toilet.
EMERGING FROM THE bathroom, I gather up my few things, my camera, a duffle ...of clothes I had hoped to launder, and my Dopp kit. I leave the spare key on the counter where Gene can’t miss it.
I slink down the stairs.
Gene’s car isn’t in the driveway, which is a relief.
Then I notice something strange about the Corolla. Gene let the air out of all four tires; it’s down on its rims. I’ve got a portable compressor that runs off the cigarette light, but it takes me almost an hour to get the tires filled.MoreLess
My tongue is a fossil. I pull myself to the sink, where nausea shakes me. I shuck my clothes and climb into the shower, but though I turn the handles like an Etch A Sketch, the water doesn’t come. I make a rude orchestration on the toilet.
EMERGING FROM THE bathroom, I gather up my few things, my camera, a duffle ...of clothes I had hoped to launder, and my Dopp kit. I leave the spare key on the counter where Gene can’t miss it.
I slink down the stairs.
Gene’s car isn’t in the driveway, which is a relief.
Then I notice something strange about the Corolla. Gene let the air out of all four tires; it’s down on its rims. I’ve got a portable compressor that runs off the cigarette light, but it takes me almost an hour to get the tires filled.MoreLess
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