Author S. K. Nicholas

A soundtrack of passionate sighs as we sit in silence watching the waves draw ever close. Hysterical, I open a bottle of beer using my teeth and light a cigarette. Things drown, and as your hands linger on the steering wheel, there’s only yesterday that keeps us together. Wrapped in blankets, you’re just like the girl I fell in love with, only now there’s too much junk, and as a dog howls to our left, Jupiter shines for no reason above our tired heads. Beauty in the rear-view mirror. Rocks in my pocket that contain several kinds of no. Fingers numb, you turn on the fan that blows out hot air. It warms your thighs, but that’s about it. Eyeing up your mouth, I remember how it used to be with me between your legs, but that’s a faded memory, and the night doesn’t need another. Bruises on my arms, we buy junk food to make it all better, and it almost works, almost. Pulling into the drive-thru, others come and go. Lovers in various stages of transformation. Sometimes glorious, but mostly they look just as doomed as we do. Lightning reflecting on the water, we eat while listening to old pop songs. Eighties voices from beyond the grave. So many roads that go nowhere. So many lives that exist only to be forgotten. Thunder rolls gently at first, then grows stronger as my loins ache for how things used to be. We’re not the same, though. Maybe we never even were in the first place. You check your phone as I imagine how it would be to die in your arms at the end of the world. With seconds left to go, I’d want only to gaze into your eyes, but it’s only fantasy. And fantasy is all I am.