OLD WIVES TALES
In which the boy swallows the pit of a peach. His flesh becomes soft to the touch and blond hairs cover his body. He bruises as time passes, red and purple. He becomes more round and his bones go soft. His heart becomes wood-like and almond shaped. Cyanide flows through his seed and he becomes a passive danger. Friends call him nectarine and he’s unsure why or if he should be offended by it. He feels most comfortable hanging loosely from the branch of a tree.
In which the girl slides the razor across her calves and thighs and beneath her arms. Her hair, red and thin, is gone for a short time, and when it grows back, it grows back brown. It irritates the skin. She slides the razor again, and the brown, irritating hair is gone for a short time longer. It grows back thicker and darker still. The hair covers and curls around her flesh. She slides the razor a third time, and when the hair grows back, she suffocates in the protein filaments.
In which the boy tugs on himself. He seeks pleasure. The world becomes dimmer as his hand moves quicker. His palms begin to itch. Shapes become less distinct and corners lose their sharpness. Thick black hairs push through his palms. His vision becomes cloudy and words become formless. The hairs scratch and irritate the folds of his fingers. They cut across his life line. Shadows spread. As the darkness becomes complete, he climaxes. He places his palms to his eyelids and cannot tell whether or not they are blocking his vision.
In which the girl sitting on the tree branch picks and splits an apple, wondering how many children she will have. She counts the seeds in the fruit’s center. The number is too large. Her stomach begins to swell. The first fetus is formed. The third child is birthed moments after splitting the apple. Her pregnancies are followed by more pregnancies. The seeds inside the apple become smaller and misshapen. The children become the same way. The children are bright and red and crisp-skinned, falling from the branch onto the grass below.
In which the boy feels the sensation in the bridge of his nose but chooses not to close his eyes. The television program emits a laugh track as he sneezes. He feels each optic nerve snap free at the visual cortex. He expects to hear a pop but doesn’t. He expects to feel pain but doesn’t. He expects to see the television glow but doesn’t. He reaches for a tissue but the world has gone dark. Two ejected eyeballs stare upward. He hears, from another room, gesundheit.
In which the girl crosses her eyes and and lifts her nose upward. She bares her teeth and presents her tongue. The boy laughs at the face she makes. She hears the clicking of mechanisms within her skull. She attempts to correct her vision and relax her face. She fails and the bridge of her nose remains wrinkled and ugly. Her heart beats faster. Her tongue becomes dry, and her vision blurs. The boy continues to laugh. Tears flow from her crossed eyes.
In which the boy sees his father sip from a mug. He drinks a pot of coffee and the length of his shins decrease by a centimeter. He drinks another and asks, it’s fair trade, isn’t it? The length of his thighs each shrink by two inches. He drinks a third cup and he no longer has ankles or a midriff. His collar bones touch his hip bones and his hip bones touch his patellae and his patellae touch his metatarsals. He can walk on tip-toe beneath coffee tables and not risk hitting his head, not even when he jumps. He smiles up at his father, towering above him.
In which the girl eats two cheeseburgers and two helpings of potato-salad. She jumps from the hot concrete into the deep end. She backstrokes and butterflies. Blood flows toward her stomach in search of nutrients. The muscles in her arms and legs contract. Pain shoots up her neck. She can no longer tread water. She can no longer move her cramped body. She sinks to the pool’s bottom, and only her eyelids flutter.
In which the girl does not chew, but swallows the chewing gum. She feels the gum’s pink elasticity, feels it sticking to her body’s digestive system. Over time, she forgets about the chewing gum. Seven years pass and she gets married. She feels a swelling in her womb. Her stomach turns pink and elastic. She becomes rubbery and sweet. Her husband chews on her skin. Labor begins. The bubble expands. She pops.