Loop

"We need to have a talk..."He wasn't going anywhere, in this relationship, or in life. He was a stuck in an endless loop and she wanted out.

"We need t0 have a talk..." She had a plan. He didn't. It was nothing personal.

"Wi ne3d t0 have a talk..." She left him the same as she found him: Angry, bitter, withdrawn and with a chip on his shoulder the size of a boulder.

"Wi ne3d t0 have a ta1k..." His feet pounded on the treadmill. He wanted the noise to drown out his thoughts. How long had he been running?  An hour, two?

"Wi ne3d 2 h@ve a ta1k.,.' Not long enough. He ran through the pain. If he ran all night, Could shed his old self like so much sweat?

"#i n$ed 2 h@v% A ta1q.,;" Would there be any person remaining after this purge? He hoped not.  He had to break the loop. And he was the loop.

#+,!3$b 2,&87% 4 t@1q.!;"

BREAK His feet were numb.

BREAK His chest was on fire.

BREAK Almost.  There.

BREakkkkk "…........................"

He laughed as he stumbled. And then everything was slow motion. The treadmill stopped. White flash as he fell. And then he stopped as well.

DATA NOT FOUND.

2014 © Eric Jolley

Food

The sparks were made in desperation, with shaking hands from wet flint, in a dark patch of a black forest where a beast with four legs stalked a beast with two.

The beast with two legs never thought itself food. It couldn't be. Because it had words and smarts and love.

But the smarts, like the sparks disappeared in the darkness. The words evaporated; just noise and breath like all the beasts make. And the love? Not kindness nor loyalty nor sacrifice mean anything to the dripping teeth.

Hunger trumps all.

2014 © Eric Jolley