Parking Meter

She cursed city life.

Red Truck

He waited for his parents while staring out the back window of the parked car. Dreaming of becoming older he imagined the things he would do; drive shiny trucks with pretty girls in the front seat, wear cut off T shirts and mirrored sunglasses while leaning his arm out the window, feel the breeze rustling through his hair. Everyone would look and he would beam back. Then his sister whacked him in the head with her Barbie bringing him back to the stifling heat of the back seat.

The Couch

She was embarrassed when the morning illuminated things. Feeling kin to this clique had weakened and her strength to strike out came in clarity after her tequila haze. Though the evening’s revelry had seemed bonding it now reeked of superficiality. Dragging the night’s knots out of her hair with her fingers, she walked out without saying goodbye.

The Wire

Mama made her stay in again, confined to her room. How could she possibly understand her desire to see him? She explained to her friends, it was an electric connection, like a movie where the boy meets the girl and he gets her with a single steely blue-eyed stare. There was nothing she could imagine more than being pressed against him under the humidity of that heavy summer sky. She considered a high wire act to escape.

Hubba Bubba

She snuck out again without them noticing. She developed a sound technique that involved taking out her own garbage and eating copious amounts of gum. Mints didn’t work, Hubba Bubba was her trick, it’s fragrance hung heavily in the air, her own personal cloud of sickly sweetness. She wasn’t the only one hiding smoke breaks. She spied on him before deciding the skulker would become a comrade.

Night Car

They had made a pact. If she were ever in trouble, no matter what time, she would come and pick her up. The phone call had seemed nonchalant, few words were exchanged, but it was clear and she fumbled for her keys with her bleary midnight eyes. Through the traffic free nighttime drive her mind wandered to the worst scenarios for a teenage girl at a sleepover. Her mind was put at rest when her pajama-clad daughter got in and announced that she had forgot her stuffie.

The Pisser

He pulls his car over deciding for once not to let beauty pass him by. Leaning against the cold metal he gazes out across the green lumps of hills rolling far beyond his view. Absorbing nature he takes in the colours that had careened by him on the highway. Some seem natural in their place, others are so bright, as if they are fighting against the stalks that bore them. Then he takes a piss and keeps driving.

pure passion and utter horniness

They felt the need to make it a covert operation. The image they presented to the rest of the group was of respectable gentlemen of a bygone era, doting and doddering in full effect. But they snuck down to the basement in fanatic droves. The posters sparked memories of forgotten lives: the camaraderie in army barracks, wives long gone, and yes, pure passion and utter horniness. Turns out they this was just what the men at the retirement home needed to carry on

Paper Bush

The days were indiscriminate from one another. While change was inevitable and her conscious mind knew the day would come, it was impossible to see past what was presented on the grueling daily basis. Her eyes glazed over the interminable wait. The bigger question was whether the change would come based on outside forces or from within herself. She had her answer but she wouldn’t discover it for many seasons yet.

Tacos Esquador

The thing was she didn’t really want other people to know, to stare, to silently question and judge. Her life at home, cloistered indoors, was admittedly comfortable. That was becoming obvious each time she took a step outside where she endured a world of sidelong glances. She wanted to shrink inward, to become something she wasn’t. They hurt her feelings and her excursions became less. In any case, the restaurant delivered.

Dog butt

He was her bestest friend. While everyone else was up in the grown up world, high above her head in their fog of words, he was always here, ready for a cuddle or to give her face a lick. It was their own little smelly world, his breath, her diapers, and she liked it that way. But he did not and wanted a moment’s peace from her fingers poking places that hurt.

The Brothel

She stood stiffly wondering how long it would be. She clutched her purse as if holding a shield and decided to wait as is. Being alone she drew on her childhood game of frozen statue. She didn’t blink or move an inch. Certain, after the dragging minutes, that she would not only beat her own time, but her brother’s too. Then the receptionist snapped in, breaking her stillness, and said it was her turn.

Clown shoes

She couldn’t contain herself. The excitement bounded out of her and startled him. She was caught up in a glee that made her feel childlike, as if her heart was singing a song she forgot. The release was intoxicating for her. For him, he found one more reason to love her more.

Tractor mural

The noise was getting worse. No matter how they tried to pretty it up, the dirt and the heat were oppressive. The grit got into the bedsheets and their clothes. The children were constantly scratching their scalps. He held his breath as his wife fake smiled her way through it. But the company had promised a better life and he had to wholeheartedly espouse and accept it. He prayed they would be true to their word.

Lips

No one expected this from him. He was about to unleash a part of himself long subverted and at this point, bursting for release. What was once tentative and fragile was now mature, ripe and heavy. The consequences, of which he well knew, would be dire. His inner war had been conquered. He would be true to himself.