atoms&void

I leaned my head against the window frame by his bedside and caressed the hardened bubbles made of dried paint on the edge. I sighed and took a well-deserved drag from the blunt he had rolled up for me. He said he was trying to quit, but even I knew that was a joke. The trail of smoke, like a ballet dancer, followed. It lingered for a while as I looked on. “How do you feel?” I heard him ask. He was playing me a beat he had recently produced. It was nice. The way sunflowers were nice. He was going to be a world-class producer when the time was right. “I don’t know. Drowning perhaps,” I answered silently in a single breath. “You’ll float, Orla. You always do,” he said reassuringly.  I knew that was the reason I fell in love with him in the first place.  

There was a stench in the air when I woke up. I didn't see them at first as I tried to adjust my eyes to the blinding sunlight, peering into my room from the window. The sun wasn't supposed to go up in another hour or so except... I jerked off my bed, and that was when I saw them. They were just like Baba had described--purple creatures with heads, the shape of a Rubik's cube. My hands were stretched out as if telling them to calm down a bit before blasting me into oblivion. "If we wanted to kill you, we could have done it while you slept," the one who looked like the leader spoke. "Err, thank you for your time and patience..." I said, uncertain of what was right or wrong at this point. I could easily take all four of them out if only Baba hadn't left with my Xuci, the night before. My Xuci, a spear-shaped old weapon of war, was far from my abode. Without it, I was nothing but a mere mortal.  "Why haven't you killed me yet?" I asked, su...