SCRIBBLING WREN
The New Term
Paul has changed his name. It’s helped him get a job at one of the most exclusive private schools in the country. Their intake is small but each year there’s always a few new girls.
He’s working as a caretaker and is upstairs cleaning when they arrive. He props on his mop to watch the parade of posh cars screech to a halt on carefully combed gravel.
The girl’s uniforms are crisp, with blazers slightly too long in the arm. There’s a smell of freshly sharpened pencil lingering in the air. He licks his lips ready for a clean start.
RICHARD
Sharp intake of breath
My sharp intake of breath had nothing to do with my son, against all odds, getting good exam results.
You might think it was because, totally unexpectedly, he had straight ‘A’s in every subject he’d taken, but even then, you’d be wrong.
You’d be getting slightly warmer if you thought my shocked expression and nervous laugh were consequences of learning that his success had secured him a place at the top university in the country.
But, that’s still not it.
My sharp intake of breath was solely due to the obscene amount it would cost me to send him there!
LIZZIE
They told him no one would force him to eat only fruit and he was fine with that. He would eat meat too. “Not here, you won’t,” they said, smiling that placid smile of veggie eaters. But he knew what to do. He’d eat their fruit and then he’d sneak out. He was only there because she forced him to go. “You need to lose weight.” Well, not by eating a ton of fruit, he thought.
When they caught him at the local diner, eating a steak, they cried. “Poor animal.” He was offended and replied “I’m not an animal!”
TOM
And the moment passed
Barry stared at a square foot of the wall in front of him. Every molecule of that square chronicled his life and though not judgmental mocked him all the same. He had taken a job as an intake clerk. A summer job which would lead to a position of power and importance. He was going places. What happen to poor Barry can only be explained as the weight of the Patrick Principle: you lower to the level of your least skill. If there is a glass ceiling there has to be a glass floor. On it is written: Intake clerk.
As the reason for my Absence
To understand how my oldest friend ended his life turfed from one medical corporation to another we’ll need a bit of geographic background. California is insanely wealthy. No, I mean streets paved with gold wealthy. Each part of the state has its own product of wealth. Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Militar Industrial Complex, damn Tesla. Our little corner of paradise is grapes. In Wine Country families rule and the head of those family fear nothing so much as the dark shadow of death. You can’t believe the amount of cash they pour into hospitals. Heavy on cardio, we are talking wings
SERENDIPIDY
Weight control is simple: It’s just a matter of balancing food intake with how much energy you expend.
Eat less, move more and you’ll lose weight.
On the other hand, eat more and move less, and the pounds will pile on.
Since you’re unable to move at all, and the feeding tube is working overtime, I think you can see where this is going…
And, once you’re so obese you couldn’t move, even if you wanted to, I’m going to slit your throat, cut you into pieces, and enjoy feasting on your flesh.
I’ll freeze whatever I can’t use immediately.
TURA
Tura Brezoianu
Attachments
Sat, Apr 22, 5:43 PM (13 hours ago)
to me
Intake
———
“I’m God. Ask me anything.”
A sharp intake of breath went through r/AMA, and the questions started.
“Why is there evil?”
“You run the show, that’s the deal.”
“What about natural disasters?”
“It builds character.”
“Can you make a rock so heavy you can’t lift it?”
“It’s called a black hole.”
“Do we have free will?”
“I knew you’d choose to ask that!”
“What must I do to be saved?”
“Treat people right, listen to your parents, eat your greens, walk a few miles every day. You already know this. What were you expecting?”
“What are you expecting?”
“Surprise me.”
NORVAL JOE
Billbert’s super powers made the old man hanging below him almost weightless. He would regain all of his weight if Billbert just opened his hand.
Billbert shook the man. “How high do you think you’d bounce?”
With a quick intake of breath, the man shouted, “She’s in a well to the north. Just put me down in the cabin, first, and I’ll take you to her.”
“I’m not as dumb as you look,” Billbert said. “Take me to Linoliamanda. Then I’ll let you go.”
Billbert dropped low enough for Sabrina to hear him. “Follow me. We’re going to get Linoliamanda.”
JARED
An Exercise in Dialogue: Jargon and Atmosphere
Klaxons screeched as red alert beacons flared to life.
“Operations, report,” Captain Klein ordered.
“Sar, we have reports of fires on all decks. It appears to have spread through ventilation shafts,” Ops Commander Willis answered. “The fire suppression system is bringing most under containment,” she continued.
Capt. Klein turned to their Science officer. “Where did this come from, Le?”
“Not certain, Captain, but the perimeter breach was via the propulsion system’s atmospheric flight coolant intakes,” Lt. Le answered.
“Those should be fully sealed while underway. We need answers as to how they opened during standard NVoS operations,” the captain declared.
PLANET Z
They stripped me naked, put me in purple scrubs, and wheeled me over to a suicide watch room.
Strapped to a bed for 12 hours without food or sleep while an intern watched me.
I did get some water. And pissed in a jug.
Then I was wheeled to an ambulance, dumped into a room with chairs bolted to the floor.
I used the pen from the intake forms to write out notes on a paper shopping bag I found on the floor.
Pulling the wire from my facemask, thinking to myself: should I stick it in an electrical socket?