secret message

by anonymous

the nobody was surprised by the mammal in the great hall it had been a long time since he had remembered the patriot but the book was still on the table where he had forgotten it he had been very impressed with it at the dawn of time the oracle watched him from under the apple tree the fortune teller consulted with the patriot and stepped out of the shadow of the overhanging balcony at this point in the proceedings all the secrets were terminated you were the one who warned me, remember? everything is lonely now especially those who waited so long and yet had no real expectations at no time were they not warned this is my secret message to the world

on a country road

by anonymous

a man walked down a country road at dusk. he carried a brown bag containing a change of clothing, a bottle of water, and an ancient manuscript. at a bend in the road he encountered a gypsy sitting on the ground, with an old dog, an empty rat trap and a deck of cards. the gypsy offered to tell the man’s fortune, for a nominal fee. grateful for the respite in his interminable journey, the man agreed. the gypsy asked the man to pick a card from the deck. it was the four of spades. the four of spades, the gypsy explained, foretold the coming end of the great city towards which the man’s steps led him. four prophets would appear on the streets of the city, denouncing the rulers of the city for their crimes, but even more earnestly denouncing each other for their false prophecies. the first prophet, an old man, foretold that the city would be destroyed by earthquake. the second, a beautiful young woman, that it would be destroyed by great beasts descending from the sky. the third, a small child, that it would be destroyed by wind and rain causing a great flood. the fourth, an anonymous traveler carrying a brown bag, prophesied that the city would vanish, to reappear in another universe where all laws would be upended and reversed . the man thanked the gypsy for the ireading, and for the nominal fee presented the gypsy with the ancient manuscript in his bag. the man continued down the road, leaving the gypsy to peruse the ancient manuscript. the sun set.

the strange man

by nick nelson

strange man, why do you stand in the shadows? i stand in the shadows to hide my face. you can not hide your face. the department of recognition has your face on file. to hide my memories. you can not hide your memories. the department of cognition can discover them if ever they feel inclined. to hide my past. the department of history controls the past. to hide my dreams. do not make me laugh. to hide from my friends. you have no friends of your own. all citizens, all departments. and all heads of departments are your friends. to hide my ambition. ambition has been outlawed, the department of justice is alert to any outbreaks. to hide my despair. i am from the department of despair. come with me.

you and me

by walter w johnson iii

the river flows to the sea just like you and me and when it turns around they will come out of the ground bye and bye others will come down from the sky they will get together and consider the weather like they did before in days of yore and when the stars burn we will return the moon will look down on the little town and the river flow to the sea just like you and me

larry and joey and bucky

by horace p sternwall

they called him larry the limp or maybe it was sammy the simp kids threw stones at him back in the day joey bradford was the police chief’s son or maybe even the mayor’s joey was a timid but also rebellious child who worshpped bucky larimer a bully and leader of the eighth grade pack sometimes bucky tolerated joey and let him follow the pack around one day the pack was throwing stones at larry or sammy and joey was allowed in on the fun a stone hit larry-sammy in the head and killed him bucky was sent to reform schol insisting that joey the mayor’s son had thrown the rock that killed larry-sammy twenty years later when bucky was working at a body shop in casper wyoming he told his story to a reporter named jane wilson who decided to write a book about the injustice done to bucky and expose joey but joey who like bucky was now thirty-one years old could not be found to be interviewed or exposed and the story joined the library of stories with no ending that will never be told

stranded

by nick nelson

i woke up this morning with a feeling of despair brushed my teeth and combed my hair filed my nails and filled out my forms ready to conform to society’s norms i had a cup of coffee and a blueberry scone and checked the messages on my phone i checked the weather and the time the planets were properly aligned i decided not to look at the news i put on my socks and put on my shoes i turned the knob and opened the door but what was i opening it for? it may be time for a new paradigm but the decision is not mine why am i telling you all this? we are stranded on the highway and lost in the mist

fire escape

by walter w johnson iii

i was born on a fire escape above a garbage can my existence was clouded by a forensic whispering campaign of the martians who hated me because i told the truth about the commissioner but i did not care because i had all i needed in the perfect and eternal love of - here come the trucks now and the dogs and the spiders

the fruits of negligence

by genghis gilgamesh

walk through the garden walk through the garden the barbarians are on the highway and i beg your pardon look out the castle window look out the castle window the deluge is incandescent and more is to follow the harbingers are in the sky the harbingers are in the sky opportunity is knocking and no one knows why the doctor left last night the doctor left last night he said he was going to the big city but that did not sound right all hope is gone all hope is gone somewhere on another planet the peasants greet the dawn walk through the garden walk through the garden the barbarians are on the highway and i beg your pardon

hamster

by dog e relaford

the little man was all alone without a friend, without a phone he had a hamster when he was young and a song he never sung at the break of dawn an egg appeared on the lawn of the courthouse behind the barber shop where you could hear the leaves drop the egg was rather large out of it a dinosaur charged mrs morris of the womens auxiliary offered the creature a succulent strawberry little dora gave it a hug and madame zara swept it under the rug most folks went about their busness and did not question the dinosaur’s isness it became a game to give the dinosaur a name some opted for colossus, others for hank it drank lemonade all day in front of the bank the hamster became a man who worked upon a lifelong tan to become vice president of marketing it had a notion but never created a successful promotion when the sun went down the little man left town nobody noticed on the river of life he floatest

definitive

by bofa xesjum

a definitive man walked down a groundbreaking street with a natural dog who wanted something to eat an important clause in the man’s secret code gave him the privilege to rain when it snowed a sensational development suddenly occurred it came to pass that he did not know the word how important can it be to be natural at times when pennies from heaven do not turn to dimes

flowers

by genghis gilgamesh

adam picked an apple and polished it to a shine bertha rode a boxcar with a jug of wine columbus sailed the ocean because the sky was blue delilah smiled at samson and broke his heart in two george washington had wooden teeth and wore a wig of white honest abe lincoln freed the slaves because he saw the light goliath was a mighty man and waked in mighty boots little david had a sling that he knew how to shoot moses was a handsome child found in rushes of bull nero burned the city down because his tank was full odin was the god of war and smote his enemies thighs pandora opened up her box and gave him a surprise robin hood lived in the forest with his merry men solomon was very wise and had more wives than ten everyone has a story to tell or to sell flowers grew in the garden before the empire fell

a traveler

by bofa xesjum

a traveler walked down a road he contemplated the sky he wanted to see a vision in the sky but it was not meant to be it started to rain the rain came down on the traveler’s head but his head did not open to let the rain in he waked past a field but there were no cows in it the traveler tried to remember a world in which fields had cows in them and haystacks blueberry muffin unspeakable crimes mountains artichokes kings and queens and princes and princesses like king arthur and the round table

a bad man

by bofa xesjum

a bad man had an imperialist handkerchief in his pocket because it was normal tor him to be definitive and to value privilege over mediocrity he did not feel meaningless but always carried a blue pen in his shirt pocket and a brown spiral notebook in his vest pocket in case he witnessed a crime which society required him to report his own preference was to live on a distant planet with fewer distractions or never to have been born at all not even in shanghai or los angeles

county fair

by dog e relaford

dreamed i went to the county fair where everyone laughed and nobody cared whether i was happy or sad beautiful or ugly, good or bad nobody cared if i was rich or poor slept in the street or behind a golden door nobody cared if i starved to death or inhaled a cheeseburger with every breath nobody cared if i could dance or sing did not know my own name or knew everything nobody cared if i was the belle of the ball nobody looked at me at all i wandered through the happy mob just another anonymous slob ready for some serious fun because i was as good as anyone i chanced upon a little booth labelled secrets of eternal truth or was it secrets of eternal doom? the booth became a motel room i was lying on the bed with my brain inside my head the walls were yellow, the rug was gray was it night, or was it day? was i alive, or was i dead? was i frank, or was i fred? was i the president of the united states? was i the master of my fate? the room was real and i was me but all i want is to be free when will it ever be my turn because some people never learn

a man, a tree, a dog

by walter w johnson iii

a man sat under a tree with an old yellow dog the tree looked at the sky rain fell from a cloud lightning flashed thunder laughed and the tree split in two the man sat under the northern half the dog sat under the southern half a traveler appeared he had a bag on his back he put the north half of the tree in the bag and walked on a second traveler appeared with a box under his arm he put the south half of the tree in the box and walked on the man and the dog were now exposed to the wind and rain the dog turned into a tree and the man sat under it a princess appeared riding a white dragon and asked the man have you seen my old yellow dog? but the man said ask the rain and the wind and the lightning the princess and the dragon rode on the man is still there talking to the tree and watching the world go by