Today I will be posting an excerpt from a short story I've just finished. It doesn't have a proper title yet, the working title is 'Dragon', after the Tori Amos song that it was inspired by. I'm going to have to come up with something better than that! All suggestions welcome!
"My throat is as raw as if I had swallowed gallons of salt
water, but I know it’s from all the smoke, and my nervous swallowing. Muscles
contracting with anxiety ripples, holding the nausea in place.
The club had been dark, with low ceilings, walls padded with white leather that reflected blue, green, red light. Those lights even shone through the water, looking down from above and weakly filtered.
There was glitter everywhere, clinging to broad shoulders, shaved forearms, straining biceps. It rested on beds of eyelashes, fingertips, in the crooks of elbows, on the rims of glasses. I felt the little squares stuck to the inside of my throat, the corners cutting in.
As soon as I arrived I had bought a drink and took my seat next to the aquarium that had been set into the length of the left wall, jewel coloured turquoise water pulsing with the music. Little fishes the colours of floating flowers quivered to keep themselves afloat, fins vibrating on a different wavelength to the pulse of music. Fluorescent orange clown fish, kissing and pearl gourami, powder blue pindani, red zebra. I watched them swim, sucking on the end of my straw like the catfish that I was, surrounded by so many of these exotic creatures.
The club had been dark, with low ceilings, walls padded with white leather that reflected blue, green, red light. Those lights even shone through the water, looking down from above and weakly filtered.
There was glitter everywhere, clinging to broad shoulders, shaved forearms, straining biceps. It rested on beds of eyelashes, fingertips, in the crooks of elbows, on the rims of glasses. I felt the little squares stuck to the inside of my throat, the corners cutting in.
As soon as I arrived I had bought a drink and took my seat next to the aquarium that had been set into the length of the left wall, jewel coloured turquoise water pulsing with the music. Little fishes the colours of floating flowers quivered to keep themselves afloat, fins vibrating on a different wavelength to the pulse of music. Fluorescent orange clown fish, kissing and pearl gourami, powder blue pindani, red zebra. I watched them swim, sucking on the end of my straw like the catfish that I was, surrounded by so many of these exotic creatures.
Someone had poured a vile of purple glitter into the water,
and it floated down to towards my end in waves; a violet snow storm. Some of it
stuck to the eyes of a large Neon Rainbowfish, and he had to continue to swim
blinded, unblinking. A kissing gourami sucked a square into his mouth, and spat
it out silver.
Glitter is an ostentatious parasite, stealing all the shine from the stars,"
Glitter is an ostentatious parasite, stealing all the shine from the stars,"
Hopefully I will find a home for it in the interwebs (or even in print if I'm feeling particularly ambitious) so I can show you the rest.
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