Six Nights, Six Monsters
by Rachel RodmanJuly 9, 2020
1. "Brains!" he began--a low moan. "Brains!"
"My name is Brianna," I corrected him.
2. We met in the glade, beneath the moonlight.
Eyes, bright. Tongue, wet.
"Sit," I said firmly.
3. "May I?" I asked, of his wrappings.
"I'm sleeping," he said.
And I felt the sting of it, his rejection.
Like a curse.
4. From bar to bar I had gone, checking my scabbard, surreptitiously.
Nothing.
Until....
In a dive on 17th, I saw it: the shining. And when I drew it forth, slightly, by the hilt: I saw that my ancient blade, Sting, had begun to glow.
"Hello," I said--a slow whirl.
Well, hello.
5. "Limbs!" I decided, "I like limbs."
"O, good," he burbled. And then slowly, shiveringly, he commenced to remove my scuba gear.
6. "I wish that we could be together always," I said, after he had spent the night.
"Well," he said, tipping back my head, so that my neck extended, "There is a way."
"I know," I said, eyeing the jars of dust on my dresser. "Open the shutters," I said softly, to my bedside Alexa.
And I let in the sun.
About Rachel Rodman
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