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The Insect Lord sent the infestation of cockroaches

  • The Insect Lord sent the infestation of cockroaches careening into the next house. The night preened in swamp gas, the hypopnea of slumped trees a gentle rustling in the moonlight.
  • The Clover family lay sleeping unaware of the pending infestation. Cockroaches climbed up the bed posts and onto the blankets... William sat straight up. Whew, that was close,
  • it was as bad as the dream with the white butterflies. Moonlight streamed through the thistleroof & strange shadows played on the birchwood shutters. Billy Clover heard a cricket
  • sing a little tune somewhere in the hut, and fall silent. Billy Clover's cat Spike muttered a little phrase while she dreamt. The cricket repeated its tune, and Spike its phrase. M
  • mmmmm, said Billy Clover all night long except during the space pirate plank to plank game of Chicken in an erratic orbit over Tlon IV: The Race when even I almost lost my breath.
  • It's not been easy to find my breath, either. Sometimes my left arm feels a little fuzzy, and I get these sharp, shooting pains from my chest and up the left side of my neck. Billy
  • said it sounded like a kick to the breadbasket. "Yeah," I said. Billy looked at me, clearly expecting me to say more. "Ah, i was thinking more of heart attack." Billy looked hurt.
  • “You know. my father died of a heart attack,” he murmured, and I looked at him, confused. “I thought it was 9/11?” “He died of a heart attack on 9/11.” he clarified, tearful
  • ly. My instincts were honed by my Homeland Security training, but my hearing wasn't stellar: "You say he was at the heart of the 9/11 attack?!" "No, I.." Angrily, I wrestled him to
  • get the top bunk. He won, of course. Then I wrestled him to get bottom bunk. He won again. Or did he?

2 Comments

  1. IceSquad Jul 06 2021 @ 08:26

    Yeah, not sure how comfortable it would be to sleep in both of them… :)

  2. Col.Lingus Jul 09 2021 @ 23:03

    I imagined the idea is that the narrator had wanted top bunk all along. I imagined it was a jail or prison cell, Or maybe brothers sharing a bunk bed.

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