The cool breeze carried with it a voice that spoke of regrets. The regret of the sun slowly whittling away the sleek ice. The regret of the rabbit as the wolf takes its life in a quick lunge. And the regret that Ash held for the way his relationship had turned out. Spring was almost…
The Anger of Old Man McKinsy
The Hole in Jacob Roebuck
by Zachary Robert Long (1251 words, estimated reading time: 7 minutes)
Jacob Roebuck looked at the scab on his leg and wondered what it could have come from. He had no recollection of ever hurting his leg, yet on his leg was a blackish-red splotch that meant he must have done just that. He worked at a computer all day and then sat around his apartment…
Splat
by Zachary Robert Long (3192 words, estimated reading time: 16 minutes)
32. During certain moments in life, the human brain changes our perception of time. One common example is the feeling that the work day is dragging on, you keep glancing at the clock but that last hour just doesn’t end. Time dilation is often referenced in trip reports on LSD and other psychedelic drugs. It…
The Church of Cleansing
by Zachary Robert Long (1996 words, estimated reading time: 10 minutes)
“And nay, Brothers and Sisters, shall we deny that the time is soon,” the man at the altar roared as he wiped blood from his hands. “For we know the truth. We know what the future holds and we shall be the ones who inherit, for we have seen that truth with our own eyes.”…
The Animals
by Zachary Robert Long (997 words, estimated reading time: 5 minutes)
Their eyes meet from across the room. Amber is saying something, but she doesn’t hear it. She’s already left her seat and is moving across the room with her glass in hand. Amber looks angry until she shakes the glass and points back with two fingers. Now Amber is happy, pacified by her favorite treat….
The Cut-Ups Volume 1: Medicated Death
by Zachary Robert Long (851 words, estimated reading time: 5 minutes)
The following cut-ups were created using the index of a hack medical text and a poorly researched chapter on Jonestown. Images of the cut-ups can be found at the bottom of the page. 1. Premenstrual syndromeas vaginal lubricant,breast discomfort and,prenatalVomiting,and,nausea WartsofWaspsanddiarrheaimpure bone exercisebyinsomniaBlistersfromshingles,Blood.coughing upin eye,urine,circulation. 911constipation fromarthritis foot odorhemorrhoids,insectlegsproblems and,self-treatment, 2.still reverberates in the…
Be My Buddy (Cut-Up)
by Zachary Robert Long (943 words, estimated reading time: 5 minutes)
I suddenly felt calm. And sleepy. I drifted into her little baby face. Opens her green eyes wide, did things with white rats. me. Covering me. feeling I’m anybody’s fuck here? I felt so warm beneath it. speed. The egg creatures moved with surprising work. dozen heartbeats. entire body shuddered from fear. Because they were…
Stone Moon
by Zachary Robert Long (247 words, estimated reading time: 1 minute)
You’re standing at the foot of a grand cathedral whose spires reach into the heavens themselves when out of the doors that are easily twice your height comes the guide you’ve been waiting for dressed like Jack The Ripper was torn out of the Victorian era and caught up in the grunge movement. Glancing around…
The Jonestown Massacre (Cut-up)
by Zachary Robert Long (579 words, estimated reading time: 3 minutes)
THE JONESTOWN MASSACRE Let’s just be done with the agony of it – this revolutionary paranoia as autumn turned to winter in the year of 1978. In November 1978, the Californian congressman, Leo J Ryan, such a finale begins in the Deep South of America with the life of for help to leave Jonestown and…
More Precious Than Jewels
by Zachary Robert Long (1669 words, estimated reading time: 7 minutes)
For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ – Matthew 15:4 The darkness hung around the car like a death shroud. The headlights could barely cut through the fog rolling in from the eastern river that circumvented the small town they were…