under the big black sun: a fable 


 
 
 

 






Martin lies fully clothed on his bathroom floor amidst various gastric reeks when the dreamlike jangling refuses to cease.

It's Gayle. "Where have you been?" Acid.

"Right here." He coughs deeply, holding the receiver out, asks her to repeat. "Confession? What confession?"

"He says he did it. You know he didn't do it. Do you think he really did it?"

"No. Where's Kelly?"

"I don't know."

Coughs. "Who told you?"

"Kelly."

"How'd she find out? No. Wait. How many badges with horny owners attached are there in this city, that's a better question."

His window flashes: outside, the parking lot is raging, aflame. Explosions. For a dizzy moment he entertains the irony of the day of reckoning, then remembers this is Independence Day night.