Week #7

outside, in the alley between her building and the laundromat, a boy lay with his arms around a dog the color of dry sand.

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nobody knew of the boy in the alley. not the artist in the dark. not the 3 friends at the drycleaners. the dog in his arms moved closer.

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he squeezed the dog and sang "we represent the lollipop kids..." and the dog whimpered as a cold breeze took his song and their heat away.

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a man named henry sloan paused at the mouth of the alley. if that boy and dog are dead, he thought, i'll go lie down and die right with them.

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the dog could have slipped the boy's arms, but stayed. it growled at henry over the boy's snotty cheek. "i just want to help," henry said.

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henry carried the boy to his apartment. the dog limped after them. people stared, snickered from cars, but no one made eye contact with him.

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with 2 bottles empty, she lacked the strength to reach for the 3rd. her eyes flitted, stopped, closed. she heard a dark and distant howl.

Week #6

theo said "emily, if you tell me spig's a ghost, i will fucking SCREECH." "i'm not" spig said "but right now i wish i was. screech anyway."

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theo got up and pointed at them, unable to speak. em said, "theo." he turned to run away. "i think we're freaking him out," spig said.

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spig helped emily to her feet. they ran after theo, who was jogging toward the park. "what have we done?" emily asked. spig said, "we?"

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they found theo hiding in the entry to a dry-cleaner's. backed into the corner. he stared at them, motionless, as if he were invisible.

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"sorry," em said. "it's all right" theo told her. "i just need to eat." spig said, "we ate a 1/2 hour ago!" theo's stare made him back away.

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the artist sat in her unlit kitchen. before her, 3 bottles of pills: 2 made-up like men, 1 like a woman. hearts drawn in black magic marker.

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one bottle emptied, she leaned across the table and wrote: "i fall for those who make me feel the way i wish they'd feel about me."