The Special Kids

There are two doors at the school.
One is for the smart kids.
And one is for the rest of the kids.
Don’t call them the dumb kids, they don’t like to be called that.
And the parents don’t like that either.
Let’s call them special. The kids are special.
Even though they aren’t special.
The real special kids don’t need a door.
They can do special things.
Like walk through walls.
Or just appear in their classroom.
With a flash of light and a cracking sound.
Nobody will notice them if we make everyone argue over the two doors.

Follow your dreams

They say to follow your dreams.
So, I followed your dreams.
They lured me into a meadow with butterflies and faerie lights.
“Join us,” your dreams said, and we danced under the moonlight.
That’s when your nightmares came out of the trees and attacked.
Your dreams scattered and left me behind for the nightmares.
Oh, the things they did to me… the horrible things.
But you know what they did.
Because you saw them in your dreams.
And in your nightmares.
So, take this sleeping pill.
Because it’s your turn.
Follow my dreams.
And then, my nightmares will enjoy you.

Sheldon

At every party Sheldon goes to, the conversation will stop and someone will say “Well, wait a minute… what does Sheldon think.”
Nobody says a word. Every eye is turned to Sheldon.
Sheldon looks at his watch and counts the seconds.
Five… ten…
Until the second hand makes a full turn around the face of his watch.
Usually, he’s got some kind of great insight.
Unlike others, Sheldon thinks before he speaks.
But once, he couldn’t come up with anything.
And the party became a riot. He was torn limb from limb.
Well, wait a minute… what do you think?

The Devil’s voice

Grandma said that I shouldn’t say such things.
“You can’t let The Devil take your voice.”
When I did bad things, she said I was letting The Devil take my hands.
Even if I didn’t say or do bad things, I thought them, and Grandma said I was letting The Devil take my head.
Grandma said lots of things, but so did The Devil.
And I gave him my ears, and I listened.
Walking out of Grandma’s burning house, holding her severed head by her hair.
Laughing.
Yes, I gave myself, whole, complete, to The Devil.
And I liked it.

The last football

Lucy pulled the football away from Charlie Brown one too many times, and he snapped.
Went into his Dad’s shed and got out an axe handle.
One whack, and Lucy went down hard.
Charlie dragged her corpse to the ramshackle psychiatrist stand, dug two nickels out of the can, and put them on Lucy’s eyes.
He ranted for hours before the adults found them.
Too young to prosecute him as an adult, so they put him in Juvie.
His sister Sally got the fucked-up dog.
Schroeder played piano at Lucy’s funeral.
And Linus left his blanket on his sister’s grave.

One upon an evil time

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess.
Her father promised her to an evil prince.
The evil prince killed all of his rivals, and every adventurer trying to free the princess.
The princess had no choice, and she married the prince.
Then, that night… while the prince and the princess were alone.
The princess killed the prince.
Because she was evil too.
She burned down the prince’s castle, killing everyone.
And she brought the prince’s head to her father.
“Our plan worked,” she said. “Both kingdoms are ours.”
And they lived happily…
Until someone more evil came around.

Dialing up the pain

I watched Soylent Green last night.
Did you know that Edward G. Robinson was dying during that film?
Bladder cancer. He died nineteen days after shooting completed.
The pain and anguish that Charleton Heston had as Thorn wasn’t just acting.
It was real.
He was suffering because his friend… his mentor… his colleague was also suffering.
The death scene was, literally, Robinson’s death scene.
If you ever need a boost in your performance, look someone you love in the eye.
And remember: one day, possibly soon, they will be dead.
When the pain becomes too great to bear, roll film.

The Melting Girl

Elizabeth liked to construct wax replicas of herself, mount them in the heated pan, and then transfer her consciousness to the slowly melting figures.
Without sight or sound or thought, just the sensation of the warmth and slowly draining away from herself.
Her softening skin, flowing and dripping into the pan, coalescing into a growing puddle.
Her feet and legs and body descending into the mass, collapsing into the bubbling goo.
After ten minutes, her mind would return to her body, she’d open her eyes, and release a deep sigh.
And she’d pour the hot wax into the mold again.

Club 27

Jimi, Janiss, and Jim.
They all died at the age of twenty-seven.
Kurt Cobain, too. And Amy Winehouse.
So much young talent died at the age of twenty-seven.
They call it Club 27, a macabre hallmark of the price of drugs, hard living, and fame.
Music industry executives were worried that their biggest acts would die before their biggest hits.
Or, even worse, die without leaving a massive library of unreleased tracks to exploit after their deaths.
Like they did with Michael Jackson, Prince, and countless others they had killed.
I mean, countless others they had difficulty negotiating contracts with.

Halloween mob

For Halloween, kids would dress up as ghosts and vampires and other creatures.
Then came the cheap plastic masks and aprons with Marvel superheroes.
I didn’t put up with any of that crap.
So, I rallied the kids in the neighborhood to meet in the apple orchard, and we’d hand out pitchforks and lit torches.
Then, we’d go door to door as an angry mob.
“IS THIS CASTLE FRANKENSTEIN?” I’d yell.
When they said no, I’d unfold a map, and yell “IT MUST BE THE NEXT HOUSE!”
And we’d work the neighborhood, until the cops attacked us with riot gear.