“I’m glad we won’t have to lie to him anymore.”

“It wasn’t really lying – rather hiding the truth.”

“What shall we tell him first? About Santa or the Easter Bunny?”

“Wouldn’t you think he already knows this stuff? Probably a few of his classmates must have told.”

“Then we’ll tell him we’re not his real parents and that he’s hereditarily predestined to be offered to the gods.”

Both giggle inaudiblely.

“Ssssh… wait… did you hear that?”

“No. You are imagining things.”

“Nonsense, we have yet to explore.”

“With days of darkness, how can this be a safe home for our families.”

“No, we are staying.”

Lucif makes a run for the spaceship. He almost reaches the lever for the door when Mi pulls him back, knocking him to the ground. They struggle and with one sweeping kick, Mi flies in the air and lands hard on his head, yellow eye wide open. He is dead.

Lucif leans over his friend and closes his eye, then heads to the ship.

“Sarah, this sullen painting, even with blue in the background, isn’t joyful as I instructed.”

“It is.”

“Explain.”

“If my brother hadn’t been still born, I wouldn’t have been created.

“It’s all natural,” Kathy tells Gordon, her teenaged son. “We don’t use pesticides.”

She tears lettuce into bite-size pieces. Radishes lie on the chopping board next in line for the salad.

“But chemicals can fall from rain,” replies Gordon. He fills a glass with filtered water.

Bruno, seen through a window, is crouching between rows of spinach and lettuce in the garden.

Gordon cringes. “So much for natural. Think of all the junk that dog picks up along the way in his daily romps.”

“That’s nature,” says Kathy. “Can’t help what one is meant to do.”

– Is there a problem, officer? I don’t think I was speeding, was I?

– I said: papers.

– …uhm…all right. Here they are.

– Are you the person on this ID?

– Yes, I am.

– This picture isn’t very recent.

– Can I take a look? … No it isn’t.

– I’m afraid I’ll have to bring you in, sir.

– What? Because my picture isn’t very up-to-date?

– No sir, because of the consequences it might have.

– Such as?

I am not scarred…

I am in control,

His tea got cold.

It suddenly seemed a travesty to spoil the land’s personality.

Don’t seek to dominate, Mother Nature whispered, explore me as you would a lover.

He felt his pulse race at the imagery. There were enticing little copses in his eye line.
He wondered if Elaine was up for–

“GRAHAM!” Her voice scattered the erotic thoughts.

He sighed and slouched towards the mobile home.

“Coming.”

The children trailed after the wagons, quivering in epileptic fits of joy. The Brubaker Spectacular had arrived.

Elephants trumpeted at the sky. Acrobats danced from the rooftops. Giants wrestled lions, while swinging from trapezes suspended over fiery pits.

The Brubaker Spectacular promised two weeks of bewitching sensation, exceeding even the most remarkable dreams of splendor.

Shops closed their doors. The school master tossed aside his exams. Reverends and ministers forgave a fortnight worth of transgressions.

His rise through the rankings has been steady. Probably get a shot at a universally regarded title next year.

The opportunity to compete tonight arose unexpectedly when one of the fighters withdrew suddenly, for reasons which were never fully explained.

Emmet took the fight at short notice, no questions asked.

As his second I follow him into the cage.

I am most concerned he will muddle his medications.

“Where do you keep your medicines, pills and tablets?” I ask.

“In the medicine cabinet, follow me, I’ll show you.” He leads me into the bathroom.

I open the cabinet door revealing dozens of unopened packets of analgesics stacked on the shelves. I look at him quizzically but don’t say anything. Finally he breaks the silence.

“I take them for my memory.”

“No,” I correct him, “Analgesics are prescribed for pain.”