XandI
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There was a bridge in my hometown that towered over an abandoned train track. In my teenage years, I buried a broken computer console beneath it near the base of a tree so my parents wouldn’t find out that the birthday present they gifted me had met a grisly end at the hands of another Read more
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I took an inkblot test and saw the hands of a woman fondling my infant penis. There was another of me in a pram, choking on a gobstopper. My tongue swollen, like a plump maggot. The pram and the world outside were drowning in a sea of Middle England sadness. Nothing’s changed. Nothing ever changes. Read more
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As John Lennon sings the words to Imagine, I crawl beneath that mythical piano of his, stroking Yoko’s ankles. She has lovely, slender ankles. They’re like twigs. Sticking out my tongue, I taste the bony flesh covering her right ankle in particular. The taste reminds me of the ginger biscuits I purchased last Friday from Read more
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She has circles around her eyes that remind me of smoky fires on late winter nights watching a firework display at the grounds of a local football club. As we collide, the water splashes out of the tub. She holds me tight. She plays me like a flute. The tiny ocean that cradles our limbs Read more
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It’s 2 am. There’s a ladybird in the trunk of a car and nineteen bodies burning down a dirt road in a town that shares its name with a girl I once fucked in a club by a river. The building that housed the club was old before I was born. During the war, it Read more
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Just as her mother had warned, it had warped him like a piece of wood left out in the summer sun. She didn’t know how or why, but the proof was clear for her to see. He reeked of what he’d been drinking, and what he’d been drinking had taken over. Her father was now Read more
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Cowering beneath his shifting shape, she wonders if her father has been struck down by some fever strong enough to rob him of his senses. It would certainly explain his strange behaviour. Might it be that he suffered an episode in town brought upon by such a fever? If he hit his head, it might Read more
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As the thing’s face inches closer to hers, she’s convinced she only has seconds to live. Not knowing what to do, she pulls her knees up to her chin, shuts her eyes, and wills herself back to the safety of the fairground. Chanting the musical words she heard in that other place, the horrors that Read more
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Cowering with a whimper, Gretchen peeks at the piercing eyes that bore into her tender bones like parasitic worms. The rage and hate contained in them are twin storms. They rage black, but the light through the window makes them visible even though she wishes they would remain hidden. In their gaze, she feels naked. Read more
Author S. K. Nicholas 