Taco Night
"You wouldn't understand," she said. "It's not a matter of life and death, but I just can't imagine living on this earth without you..."

As the juices from the green pepper she was slicing ran through the gouges in the cutting board, Clovis imagined executing a bizarre acrobatic stunt, kicking the knife from her hands and catching it with his teeth in mid-air; he could practically taste the sweet tang on his tongue.

"I have sacrificed so much, and to give up at this point would invalidate my entire existence. We have to go to the Southwest. My people will welcome you..."

Clovis tried to act casual as he leaned backwards against the counter, accidentally mushing one of his hands into a large glob of ground meat. His hand clenched instinctively as the cold mess licked his palm; bright pink miasma oozed from between his fingers.

"You will never have to worry about anything ever again. We can adopt a child and live a normal, happy life. This is what you have always wanted, isn't it? What we want..."

His muscles tensed as he prepared to strike. The diligient study of martial arts all coming to this crucial moment. The spirit of the eagle swelled in his chest and he lept high in the air, yelping wildly. The lines of the world seemed to stretch and spin as the years of repression and fear were drawn out in a few seconds of wrath and bloody retribution.

Clovis landed, crushing a pack of hard tortillas under his feet. He didn't have to look down to know that Barbara had completely disemboweled him. It was better this way. As the pain of death began to wind it's way around his broken body, Clovis finally spoke:

"I would never marry a Martian diguised as a human, " he gasped. "And...I hate tacos..."

Memoirs Of A Party Balloon

Is it wrong to understand
the fear that dwells inside a man?
What's it like to be alone?
I liken it to a balloon...

My name is Jonas. My early life wasn't entirely pleasant. After cooling down from being shaped into the generic roundish shape which I hold, I was quickly stuffed into a cellophane bag with 59 others of similar shape and size, but with varied colors. My color was green. We were all young, excited, and full of promise. Initially the bag was roomy enough for each of us to take turns looking through the clear part of the bag to see the outside. There were plans for us to be shipped to a supply store in Hoboken, NJ, and stacks upon stacks of others were crammed into a cardboard box face down.

This was the darkest and lowest point of my life. Most of us concentrated on little other than trying to deal with the crushing misery of the situation which we had entered. Is this forever? There were some glimpses of hope. In the darkness, I managed to meet a balloon named Julie. She had such wonderful ideas for the future, and spoke of what she planned to do when she got out. We held each other, not minding the discomfort, through two bumpy truck rides, a grueling wait in the summer sun where we all started sticking to the others, and the stifling density of the back room of the warehouse.

I remember distinctly the morning that light pierced the darkness as the box was jostled and torn open. We did not leave the box that day, but most of the weight was lifted away, and we could see! I turned to see Julie for the first time, squinting in the light. She was a light pink shade, and seemed to be the loveliest creature I could imagine. Right then, I didn't mind being in that bag so much, and I could tell that she didn't either.

When we finally made it out into the store we were able to see what life held outside the bag, and indeed, the box. Once again we struggled to be pressed up against the clear part of the bag, watching customers walk past, different shapes, colors, and sizes, all of them.

Our bag, along with four other bags, was purchased by a squat older man that we had seen in the store already. We realized this was the start of the greatest adventure we would ever know. As we were passed through the cash register and placed in a larger bag, it felt as though we were taking the first step into the unknown, and the bag fell silent with anticipation. I fell asleep dreaming of what the future held for me and Julie.

The bag opened the next morning and we all gasped from the shock of fresh air. We were dumped unceremoniously in a pile on a white table. The others were excited to meet the newcomers, but I had lost Julie in the scramble and was looking all around for her. I saw that we were in a house with other decorations from the store that we were in. Birthday party. For a kid, looked like. Everyone else was too wrapped up to notice that one by one we were being removed from the pile. Look, I cried, as Tony the Red Balloon was picked up and impaled on a cylindrical device. The merry mood turned to terror as Tony was changed suddenly, inexplicably into a bulbous, despondent orb. He only screamed for a second. I doubled my efforts to find Julie. I knew I couldn't escape, but I wanted to tell her I loved her. I never got the chance.

I heard her voice from behind me, pleading, "Jonas, no!" I was in the grip of the man, being dragged deliberately to the device which I had seen Tony mounted on just seconds before. What happened next is a little unclear, but I knew things would never be the same.

To be continued...