Mice Escape

Mice Escape

One mouse two mouse red mouse blue mouse. They’re everywhere! Ewe ewe ewe ewe! How did this happen? What am I going to do? I look at the tipped over cage, glass shattered all over the floor. Shit!

So, I do what any other responsible 26-year-old woman would do: I walk out of the pets store, and say fuck it. I had been working at PetCenter for about two months, and quite frankly, it sucked. The place smelled like ass, non-stop chirping of birds, all sorts of poop pellets everywhere, and a jungle of cages filled with a variety of nasty animals. The place was noisy, gross, and overall a big bore.

I guess you’ve gathered that I’m not an animal lover. Then why work at a pet shop you ask? Well, I saw a help wanted sign outside the door, I needed the money, and that was that.

I’ve been job jumping since I finished college three years ago. After high school, I kept my kickass job as a server at Houlihan’s job, until they closed down back in ’09. I loved that job. Some might say waitressing is hard work: not for me. I loved putting on my sweetass fake smile, greeting tables, up-selling, getting people to buy ginormous alcoholic beverages and greasy-ass appetizers they didn’t even know they wanted.

After Houlihan’s closed down, it was like my life ended. The wait and kitchen staff, my former best friends, well, everyone just went their separate ways. No more going out for drinks after our shifts, no more sneaky cig breaks during free moments, no more anything. It’s like the people I thought were closest to me, it’s like it was all a joke. Now, they all either moved away, or they found new peeps to hang with at their new jobs. And I’m left all on my own with rabbit shit.

I tried finding other serving jobs: Chile’s, Applebee’s, Cheesecake Factory. But, honestly, none of it felt right. It just wasn’t the same. So I’d stay at those jobs a few months, and then move on. I eventually started trying other things: retail (oh, my time at the Gap was such a hoot!) and even the local movie theater. Then I decided to go back to school in 2012, thinking I’d be a nurse. And lo and behold, I actually graduated.

So why have I not moved on to changing IV bags or wiping old peoples’ asses? Well, I suppose that would be just too much reality for me. So, instead, I jump from job to job, hoping I will find my Houlihan’s fit again.

As I walk down the strip mall sidewalk, lighting up a Malboro and leaving the pet store behind, I see a former buddy of mine, a cook at Houlihan’s walking on the other side of the road. “Hey, Jim” I yell toward him. I say it a bit louder, as he hasn’t heard me “Hey, Jim, Jim, Jim!” He continues to walk down the road. I can’t be sure if he didn’t hear me, or he’s ignoring me; I suppose it’s irrelevant at this point.


Fuck him, I think to myself. I walk toward my old beat up Chevy, wondering what I will do next. I lean against the passenger side door, and take out my wallet. I have $28 cash, and a bunch of crumpled receipts. I decide to go score some weed, and that maybe in a stoned haze some reason for being will come to me.

Pointless

POINTLESS

We’re all going to die one day. So if that’s the case, then why does anything matter? What’s the point in doing anything? Why have goals, ambitions; who cares about the future? Aren’t we all just lying in a pool of insignificance?

These thoughts fly through my head as my homeroom teacher finishes the sentence she is writing across the circa 1984 green chalk board. What has she written? “Three goals I have for myself this academic year are…” The sentence is in cursive, a writing style even more antiquated than the chalkboard. Fuck her, fuck this dumb homeroom, this dumb school, fuck life. It’s all so worthless. Yet I take out a notebook, obedience ingrained in my DNA. Here goes nothing.

I think for a few minutes, chewing on my pencil eraser as I do so. I just can’t get over how dumb this is! So ridiculous. Yet I jot some things down all the same.

1. Read more books

2. Make more friends

3. Be kinder and more considerate to my classmates

There, I’ve done it. Now I can rest. I put down my pencil, sigh, and turn toward the 8am sun shining through the classroom windows. Oh, to be home in bed, cuddling my soft pink comforter, the sun glittering through my bedroom window, lost in sleep, unconsciousness protecting me from the monotony of reality, free to play in my dreams. But no - here I am, amongst these fools, in this useless endeavor we call an education.

My homeroom teacher approaches me; I’ve already forgotten her name. She reads over my goals, and smiles. She continues to circulate the room, looking over my classmates’ papers. She nods and smiles periodically, showing the same disinterest as glances over each paper. I continue to chew on my pencil, boredom seeping into me, without having even begun first period yet.

Homeroom Teacher tells everyone to stop writing. She then asks for volunteers to stand up and explain one of their goals. Naturally, not one hand goes up. She then says nervously “Kassy, why don’t we start with you?” I have no idea how she even knows my name already. Whatever. I stand up. I feel my gray linen skirt sticking to my butt, the sweat having built on my legs after sitting for some time, and clandestinely attempt to free it. I’m sure everyone’s seen me, and I begin to feel my face heat up with embarrassment. I clear my throat, and nervously turn to my paper. I read my first goal, “Read more books.” Homeroom Teacher then asks me “What is one book you would like to read?” Stupid bitch. I stare at her, and feel a gush of red infuse my forehead, cheeks, and chin. Of course, I can name no books. I am fifteen, and my summer was spent playing video games and watching reality tv. “Well then,” she retorts “What’s one book you read this summer?” I continue to stand there in silence, humiliation saturating my mind and body, wanting to squeeze myself together into a snail-like spiral and hide from the world.

Ten minutes later, the bell rings, and the students eagerly run out of the classroom. Seven hours later, school has ended. I see Mrs. Homeroom Teacher outside, getting into her car. I see her mutter something, her face forming into an expression of frustration. She closes the driver-side door and quickly walks back toward the school. I stand outside with all of the other kids, gathered to chat while waiting for parent pick-ups and buses. I walk toward Homeroom Teacher’s car, exhilaration beginning to tickle my body. As I get closer, I feel a full-on thrill rush through me, my heart beginning to race, tingles in my arms and legs, and a slight feeling of light headedness. I look around to see if anyone is near, although the truth is, I really don’t care. I take out my Swiss army knife from the front pocket of my green North Face backpack and open it up, pulling the silver, somewhat rusted, knife out. I kneel down, and forcefully thrust the blade into the tire. I then attempt to pull it out, realizing that it is pretty well wedged in. I pull harder, and it comes out, air gushing out of the tire with it, the force pushing me onto my back.


I get up, close my knife, and return it to the front pocket of my backpack. I brush off my skirt and legs, turn around, and head toward home. As I walk down the sidewalk, a feeling of calm reigns over me, as I think that perhaps today I added some meaning to the pool of insignificance we call life.

One-way Ticket

One-way ticket

Amanda, Amanda, Amanda. What the fuck is wrong with you? What goes on in that twisted little brain of yours? The date was January 11, 2010. I was holding up my weekly Time magazine, engrossed in an article about the one and only: Ms. Amanda Knox. My hero, my nemesis, my everything.

I remember when I first heard of the story. I was perusing CNN.com, and I came across an article about my soon-to-be reason-for-being. I thought “another murder, another day.” Then, a few more articles, a few more, and the story just blew up! Everyone was talking about her. “Amanda Knox, American in Italy arrested for murder”; “Is Foxy Knoxy REALLY so innocent after all?” I could not get over how much attention the story was getting! And as I saw Amanda’s face in the news more and more, I began to feel a force pulling us together. At first, it was like a little static electricity…and quicker than I’d like to admit, I began to feel like we were two magnets being driven together. Now, it’s as if there is a gravitational force pulling me to her, and as hard as I try to jump up and out of it, to be free, I cannot leave Amanda-sphere.

I don’t know what started my obsession with Amanda. She’s cute, but let’s be honest - nothing special. She’s got a decent little bod, a bit hefty for me. And she’s a total moron…not usually what I’m attracted to. But something about her, something about her just drew me in. The thought of her wearing that sexy red G-string, purchased the day of the murder, so cute on her lying-bitch-conniving little ass.

Now, I suppose after that statement, you’ve gathered how I feel about her innocence. I shouldn’t even put the pronoun “her” and “innocence” in the same sentence, as far off as they are. But I suppose part of what attracts me to her so is that she’s a murdering little pot-smoking-whore. I have fantasies of her holding up the knife that killed Meredith, so stealthily taken from Rodolfo’s kitchen drawer, seductively licking the blade, then straddling me, placing the blade tip up to my neck, smiling that wicked little smile of hers. And I tell you, I nearly come in my pants every time.

At first, my Amanda addiction freaked me out like nothing else. I mean, what is wrong with me? Why do I care about this dumb little bitch? What is so grand about her? What makes her hotter than Miley Cyrus or Lindsay Lohan? Or the lovely Meredith Kircher for Christ’s sake? It just doesn’t make sense! The whole thing is just pretty sick, as anyone in their right mind can see.

But I love Amanda. I love her, I love her, and I want her to tie me up, do nasty things to me, I want to break her out of prison, to show her who is really in control. I want her to sing to me in Italian, to take her soccer ball she so deftly played with (those pictures of her from high school, oh boy), cover it in honey, in wax, in whatever it may be, and do wild things to it with me. My feelings, however obscene they may be, are real.

So, I started writing letters to Miss Amanda. When the case first came out, I wrote about once a week. About six months into it, twice a week. By the end of the first year, well, I’ll just say it…every day (and those are just the ones I sent). Now, we’re into year two of the trial…and let’s just say, I spend a lot of time pencil in hand (pun intended)…a mix of love, lust, and hysteria taking hold of me, as I write her letters about my day, my feelings for her, what I want to do to her (and what I want her to do to me), and hell, even some poems here and there.

Has she writing back you ask? No, not once. Over 300 letters, 0 responses. So, as I sit here at my desk in my dim bedroom, I look at my open suitcase on my bed. Clothes neatly folded inside - enough for a week or two. On top of my desk lies my one way ticket to Italy, where she is currently imprisoned. I am sick of this little cunt ignoring me, and I will not take it anymore! Amanda thinks I’m a stranger, and I do see where she is coming from. But in my reality, the reality that I hold closest to my heart, that I will never be able to let go of, she is mine. And she will be mine.


I may be a sick fuck, but I’m a sick fuck on my way to Italy – Foxy Knoxy, here I come!

Slivering along

Slivering along

Things haven’t been bad since we took over the world. I bet you’re asking yourself, “Who is this ‘we’?” Well, it’s the rattlesnakes of course!

The year is 2678. And yes, there are still humans around. But they don’t rule the roost like they used to! Now it’s us in charge. We sliver our way down the streets, hissing along the way, making sure all is safe and sound. We wouldn’t want any uprisings, after all.

Now how did this happen? I have one word for you: evolution, baby! Yes, humans were the most evolved species. They were horrified of us for centuries, knowing the danger our venom could cause them, running away from us, terrified. But little did they know what we were up to while they were pissing away with fear!

While humans left us alone, afraid to touch us, frightened of being obliterated by our poison, we were becoming bigger, stronger, and even MORE poisonous, little by little. Back in the good old twenty-first century we were about four feet long, five pounds. But in a few hundred years a lot can change…we kept hidden, which wasn’t very hard, considering how unpopular we were. And we ate and ate and ate (mmm, rats and gophers!), grew and grew and grew, and reproduced like WOAH. And soon our four feet become twenty, and five pounds became one-hundred, and our population, it sky-rocketed! And we got STRONGER, and our venom even more potent!

Then one day, the old tribe, led by Jorb and Coza, brought together the first RSU (Rattlesnakes Strong and United) army, to be followed by hundreds of armies worldwide. Did our armies have weapons? Hell no! All we needed was our size, stealth, and super poison.

We did, however, need a plan; no matter how poisonous you are, how deadly you are, you humans are still pretty darn smart. So we mapped out our strategy: We started in the US, with the good ol’ Amarillo, Texas clan making the first attack. Then each of our armies hit our appointed countries, and little by little, we were the majority! Did we kill you all? Of course not! That would be just no fun.

So, the year is 2678, and us rattlesnakes, we are in charge. As much as evolution has helped us physically, in terms of our size and poisonous capabilities, we still aren’t all that social of creatures. So we basically just sliver along, occupying our days on the hunt. And what has happened of you humans you ask?

We call them “surlaps,” which in our tongue is more or less equivalent to prisons. We make them out of leaves, vines, and sap, sort of like a combination of a bird’s nest and a spider web. And there remain the humans, all 1 billion of you or so. It’s funny, as used to us as you must be, you still cringe every time one of us approaches you. And that look of sheer terror, well it’s just such a hoot. During the weekends, our only pleasure time, we usually choose a few surlaps, take you on out, and drop you in a ditch with a few hundred of us. It’s such a darling show, so much jumping and yelping and pleading for help. Not bad entertainment, if you ask me.

So that’s life here in 2678. Taking over the world was pretty great, but life now, well it’s not all that much different than before. What the hell, who am I kidding…it’s way better than before, it is AWESOME ruling the world. As you humans know, being on the top of the totem pole is pretty grand.

Delicious, Disgusting, Decisions

Delicious, Disgusting, Decisions

Barbeque or Sour Cream and Onion. Barbeque or Sour Cream and Onion. The bags of Lays stare back at me from their spot on the shelf in the wide aisle of the supermarket. They both are pulling at me, yelling my name “Buy me, buy me” they shout. Barbeque makes an excellent case: “I’m tangy, yet sweet. I kick at your tongue as you lick your lips and feel that slight burn dance in your mouth. I am the life of the party, I will fulfill all of your needs.” Sour Cream and Onion come in with a sharp rebuttal: “I am amazingly creamy, even in my powdery form. My crunchy richness will amaze you, and then the onion will jump in to shock you, perplexing your taste buds, making you beg for more.”

This is me, at 2am, in Walmart. In my old, baggy, gray sweatpants with a hold in the left knee, my white tube socks (complements of my ex), my Nikes, and my favorite UCLA pull-over hoody. Hair matted, standing, or better yet, slouching, in front of my current best friends: chips. Chips oh chips, how I love thee. I feel my belly pinching out from my sweat pants, but choose to ignore it. My fat just needs more chips!

Now, a sane person would say, “Just get both chips.” Of course! An even saner person would say, “Go to bed, you crazy lady. You should be asleep at this hour!” An even saner person would say, “Dude, it’s pretty pathetic that you’re at Walmart in your jammies at 2am on a Saturday night.” To all of those people, I say, Fuck you (with a capital F).

I grab the barbeque, and head to the check-out line. Of course there are only two open at this hour, both with long lines. I wait, chips in hand, eager to get home let the barbeque prove itself to me. It’s finally my turn to check out. The cashier places my barbeque treasure against the scanner. Nothing. She tries again. Still nothing. Again, again, again, then again, then again. The dumb fuck really thinks this will work at some point. “Can’t you just type the code in?” I ask. She turns the bag around so the barcode faces her, as if this idea were a novel, confusing idea. She looks at it, looks back up at me, and said “No, the numbers somehow got smudged, I can’t read them. I”ll call for a price check.” “No, it’s fine,” I retort. “I’ll just get another bag.”

There I am, back at the chip aisle, once again faced with the barbeque and sour cream and onion debate. It’s as if I have to make the decision all over again. So unfair, stupid smudge. I grab the sour cream and onion this time, guessing that fate smudged the bar code, wanting me to make this choice. I take the bag, and walk back toward the check-out counter.

As I do, I catch a glimpse of him in my periphery. My ex, laughing his girly, giddy laugh, walking toward me with whom I can only presume is his new girlfriend, hand in hand. She has a huge smile across her face and giggles softly as he laughs away. Love and lust emanate from them. He looks up and sees me, and his facial expression suddenly changes from glee to utter mortification. My heart races, I look back at him. All of our moments together flash through my mind: our first kiss, late night Taco Bell runs, lounging on the couch watching movies, going from club to club dancing and kissing on our crazy nights. Then the last moment hits me: Him, over the phone, saying to me “I’m sorry, I wish I felt differently, but I just think this is the right thing for us both.” I see those moments, and they feel brand new.

I quickly leave Walmart, chips in hand, hurrying out, not caring that I didn’t pay. I find my car, and sit in the driver’s seat. I feel my bag of Lays in my lap. I open the bag, pull out a chip, and bite into it. I taste the creamy powder, feel the onion pierce into my tongue. I put chip after chip into my mouth, the flavor changing as my salty tears creep into my mouth. I continue to eat, until the bag is empty. I feel sick to my stomach. I get out of the car, empty bag in hand. I walk to the trash can. As I do, I see my ex exit the Walmart, looking around, preoccupied. Looking for me, of course, hoping he does not see me. I stand in front of the metal garbage can a few feet from my car. I throw away the empty bag of chips, once filled with such delicious delightfulness, now vacant, having left only traces of repulsion coating my insides. I turn back to the car, get in, turn on the ignition, and drive toward away.

No decision

No decision

It was sucked out of me. Just like that. Snap. So long. Bye bye. It was gone forever. I stared up at the white ceiling, and felt nothing. I heard buzzing, as the doctor held down the button next to my chair, raising me back to an upright position. He told me to remain seated for a few moments, and then I could leave. He said to call him if there were any problems.

I sat up in a daze, then closed my eyes again. I practiced my relaxation breathing, a technique taught to me a few therapists ago. In deep through the nose, feel my stomach extend as my diaphragm is pushed down, exhale slowly through the mouth. As if that made a difference.

A few minutes passed, me sitting in my paper robe, legs exposed, feeling a slight shiver run through my back as the cool air coming out of the vent above me tickled me all over. I listened to the hum of the air conditioner as the air blew over me, using the noise as my focus point, so that I could clear my head of everything else.

I opened my eyes as the door opened, the nurse coming back to check on me. She gave me instructions as to post-op care, then said I could get dressed and leave. She walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. I slowly rose from the chair, peeling my sticky skin from its plastic cover. I threw my sundress on over my head, then my cardigan sweater. I slipped my underwear over my feet, then tore open the pad lying on the counter, sticking it on. If anything remained, there it would land.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Tall, thin, long blond hair. I looked like Barbie in my powder blue sundress, with its white laced collar and lace trims along the bottom. I was Barbie to everyone around me; little did they know what I had just done.

I strolled out of the exam room, out the office door, then out the front door of the medical building. I picked up the phone, found Dylan’s name, and clicked “call.” “Hi, baby,” he said, sleepily. “Hi,” I said back. We chatted on for a few minutes; we discussed our upcoming wedding, our excitement for our honeymoon, and the life we’d have together. “I’m so excited to be married to you,” Dylan uttered. “Me too,” I uttered. And even as I felt the blood leaking from my underwear, sliding over the pad, and down my leg, I knew that I truly meant it. I walked on down the street, chatting with Dylan, feeling bliss defeat agony as the wrestling match came to an end in my heart.

The Rose

The Rose

I feel the warm water run down my body as I gently massage the shampoo suds along my scalp. As I wash myself, I hum along to the music in the background, softly singing. The music is faint, with the sound of the running water overpowering it, yet I know the words so well that I could hear them over anything. As I sing along, I absorb the powerful lyrics, and tears trickle down my face. They mix with the soapy water, and slide down my body as the music eases its way through me.

Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger an endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower and you, it's only seed

Her voice is so inspiring, her words so hopeful.  She understands love’s danger.  Yet she sees beyond it, she sees the sparkle, and all that it’s worth.  The song continues as my body tightens.    

It's the heart, afraid of breaking that never learns to dance
It's the dream, afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken who cannot seem to give
And the soul, afraid of dying that never learns to live

I listen to the words, the urgent need to give it all, to let the fear be lifted from me, fading into the clouds, disappearing forever. I want to feel, experience, live. 

When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter far beneath the winter snow
Lies the seed that with the sun's love, in the spring becomes the rose

These simple words, these soft metaphors, they caress me.  I feel hope, I feel dreams, I feel life outside of the water and soap surrounding me. 

I see a rose, fragile red petals atop an arched green stem. Ominous thorns, awaiting their opportunity to prick you if you squeeze too hard.  The petals shake in the wind, daring to fall off, leaving the rose behind, all alone.  I am that rose, I am that fragility, I am those thorns. 

I hear a yelling in the background.  “Trish, hurry up, the bus will be here in less than ten minutes,” my mom shouts, as the song slowly fades out, and I am left alone with the falling water again.   I turn the water off, grab a towel, and wrap myself in its rough threads.  I head out of the bathroom, steam from the shower following behind me, along with my my tender teenaged daydreams.