time flies differently when you stand alone in a room and think about the past with regret Pigeons with glass shards in their wings, reflecting sunlight in their fall. That's how time moves lately “It's gotta be a long time ago,” he said. “I know it's gotta be a long time ago because the times I've thought about it were so damn numerous. I was just... Just walking back home when I saw her. On the side of the road, covered by her black hooded jacket. Black stockings on slim legs. In high, black boots with elevated soles. Her face totally concealed by the shade of the hood. Yet as I passed by her I saw the paleness of her features. Big eyes locked with mine. A cold snap in my very soul. I just... kept going. Too afraid to even look back. And the more I walked ahead and…

it was darkening outside as he opened the beer and threw his old body on the rocking chair There was no TV in his house "It shows people,” he'd said. "An' I can't stand them.” He poured the beer into a glass and started rocking back and forth into his chair, looking at nothing and enjoying it When it was completely dark, the black cat came into the house through the hole in the broken window a limp gray fish big as a fallen leaf glistened in its mouth, reflecting the full moon outside "Welcome back,” he said to the cat as it laid the fish on the carpet near his feet and rolled on its back, exposing its belly He took the fish and smelled it and tossed it into the beer and shook the glass "Thank you,” he said. "That's enough protein for today.” He leaned forward in…

she’s got this big

lizard

that I don’t

even know the name of

and walks

it around in a

baby stroller

“It needs the sun,” she

says. “And it

needs me as her mother.”

When she’s not at her

dish-washing job

at the two-star restaurant

she’s scouting

the local park,

looking for trees with bird nests

to steal the eggs

or even better,

the chicks

and feed them to the

big lizard

Not exactly the crime

to send one

behind the bars

but she did

get in

some trouble for it

“I never liked the scent

of peeling scales,”

she said, “until I

smelt it on her belly,

between her hind legs.

If you haven’t

seen angels

before,

you are invited to look

upon her

beauty. Please only

look, don’t touch.”

“Yeah,” I said, “she’s pretty

nice. What’s

her name?”

But instead of answering

she said,

they told him that the hospital's windows were barred not to prevent them from going out, but to prevent others from getting in He had to believe them. Had to believe everything he was told here and do as he was told and he was so far successful It was a peaceful life but as he kept living it he realized that, in itself, that was the problem There was another patient in the room with him who constantly woke up crying and begging for forgiveness he made the crying sounds of a dog in great pain and when the staff came to calm him and inject him with another dose of drugs he cowered into a corner and began whispering to himself about the days of youth when he hit a dog in the head with the edge of a shovel, just as it was feeding its puppies with…