“We need to talk.”

“What is it?”

“It’s the alien you’re hiding in the attic.”

“You want it gone?”

“No, I just think if you’re going to hide an alien it shouldn’t be in the attic. We have a basement, that’s more dungeon-y.”

“But I want her to feel welcome.”

“Oh, it’s a her now, is it?”

“It’s always been.”

“What are you doing with her up there?”

“Experiments…”

“Are you probing her, Carl? Are you playing doctor with the alien?”

“No, Maude, I’d never! Maude, no, don’t go up there!”

“I’m going!”

“No! Uh, I can explain the lingerie!”… Read the rest

Don’t leave me.
Please don’t leave me,
I’ve begged these words before,
not proud, but not shamed,
I need you here.

Please don’t leave me.
Please think of all the good times,
when we laughed and loved each other
so much we made people sick.

You can’t leave me.
I wouldn’t know how to go on
without you, I can’t even breathe
when you’re not here, I’m choked,
unable to speak or cry.

I won’t let you leave me.
I will beg and guilt and manipulate,
I will promise, I will swear, I will
do anything for you to stay.… Read the rest

Instantly, without warning, nostalgia hit like a bus.

The doors of the atrium, into the commons, I remember the cacophony of shoes and shouts, the smell of culinary class’s pizza, the feeling of excitement for a new day.

This is where we kissed outside the office for the first time.

This is where I accidentally outed my crush to my crush.

This was where I struggled with Algebra.

But this is where I sang.

This is where my voice lifted and lifted me into the rafters, voices like bells and drums perfectly aligned with the world, as they should be.… Read the rest

“But I didn’t!” she begged.

“You did! We watch it all, we know you did.”

“But I didn’t mean to,” she said.

“There are rules for everything, and they are rules for a reason. There is a reason we assign you jobs, assign you housing, assign you recreation time. You don’t need to know those reasons, you just need to abide.”

“I do not abide!”

“Very well. That is admission of guilt for Rule #6, ‘Never Fall in Love’. You’re sentenced to a life alone, because you don’t know how to – “

“I know how to love. That’s all … Read the rest

Do you remember
the nights we got so drunk
just for the hell of it,
just because we were
young and free and could?

Do you remember the time
a opossum got into the house
and we had to use brooms
to catch the bastard and
toss it from the recycling bin
into the front yard?

Do you remember
when we first met
how it felt like we’d
known each other forever,
like we’d already been friends,
maybe in another life?

It doesn’t matter how much
space or time divides us.
A part of you will
always be my home.… Read the rest