Tilting back my head, I see from the side of my eye a part of the town of which I haven’t stepped foot in for years. Not since I was that kooky child emerging from the bars of his womb-like crib. The streets remain the same, as do the buildings, but times have changed. I am no longer a child. At least not on the outside. My skin is fading, and my once piercing eyes are going grey and streaked with blots of ink that make my vision swim as if drunk. Gripping my cock, Meeko yanks causing me to wince. She does it on purpose—she always does. It’s her way of reminding me who’s in control. If I strain, I can hear my mother’s words over the gust of wind that rattles the branches of the tree. Those ethereal words of hers are urging me to rise from the slumber of sleep to face a new day. They sound like birdsong. They did back then, and they do so now. For a moment, I can’t tell the difference between the present and the past. Perhaps I’ve never been able to tell the difference, for all moments shine, and all moments sing. Rubbing my crown with her thumb, Meeko grins at the sky. The sky grins back, as do all the stars and the moons within. With my mother’s words merging with the rustling of the leaves, the childhood voices of my old school friends stir from those distant streets, and even though the school in question has long since been demolished, if I squint just the right amount, I swear I can make it out. With its outline standing on the horizon like a monolith, her touch causes my fingers and toes to tingle the same as my unravelling mind.

X and I: A Novel and A Journal for Damned Lovers on Amazon UK

X and I: A Novel and A Journal for Damned Lovers on Amazon US