Aurora 2024

Al Groves

and I will clear my throat, and reply with a croak (my voice will be a little rough since it is the first thing I will have said all day) “okay and?” but ignoring my question it’ll simply reply “I am from the Earth” “okay and?” I’ll repeat, my voice now more steady, but the mush won’t reply. Giving the contents of the bucket one last look – it’s slightly green, probably from the skin of the apple – I’ll wrinkle my nose and nudge the bucket under my bed so it can be a problem for a later me. Not that later me will mind, oh no, a later me will have forgotten of the incident by then and will be looking under the bed for something… like maybe a phone charger? or a lost shoe? or a pen? It will make sense if it is a pen I lose and will lose them quite often, and they stay hidden until one day while minding my own business I will jump into a chair and a sharp uncapped point will jab into my heel giving me my first tattoo.

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