Fly On The Wall: Fairy Tales From A Misanthropic Universe, Vol. I by Alfy Dade

for
her. She wasn't 'a good girl', her tattoos told tales of proscribed
memberships, and pinpoint pupils disclosed her pastimes, her
slurred speech told tales of many a good day and night.
    Perhaps it
would've been better if they'd never met. She was bad to the bone,
but she had much good in her heart. She spent a lot of her time
helping others. She had a strong personality, addiction never stuck
no matter how many binges she went on. Her memberships were used
foster peace, not war. Ganglands had enough of the latter already;
she was that good which existed to balance the bad.
    He was the
bad. According to society's mores, he was very good indeed. Well
bred, well read, well educated, and well fed. He was very good at
what he did, but his heart was not. He was bitter, he was jealous,
and he was angry. He would not be, and he could not be 'bad', but
by 'zounds he wanted to. He, unlike she, did not know himself well.
He often found himself obsessing, addicted even to thoughts.
Perhaps it would have been better if they'd never met, but they
had.
    She kept him
from her awful trap, from the all-encompassing game, she knew the
strength it called for, and she knew he didn't have it. She could
not explain why they'd come together as they had, she just knew
they had.
    He didn't
want this, he wanted the glamorous needles, the precious pale
powders, and pressed pills, he wanted it all. One day he stole her
horse and rode it into the wild blue yonder. He loved it, and so
needed more. He quivered in anticipation. He needed her contacts,
but they would deal with him only if she was gone. A call, and a
scaly-tailed tip later, and soon she was. Hustled away by
well-armed tax collecting swine. He wanted it, and now, finally, he
had it.
    She'd wanted
nothing but to help. Now, and for the next 10-15 years, all she
would be able to do was help caged birds imagine they could fly. He
made his dreams come true and finally became bad, no longer good
even by the surrounding sociocultural standards. He had that which
he sought, and as an extra boon he was rid of the whore. He was
happy to start, but the horse was very tall, so he had trouble
getting off. Within months, he would be found slain in a ditch,
with a needle in arm, thrown violently from his horse.
     
    "Junkies...all the same” the EMTs will remark. As they shoo
scavenging flies away from his splayed cadaver.

24 – Zodiac Pt. 2
    Sunny days
were his favorite, they were perfect. Just him and bright beautiful
rays which shone down upon all. People were out and about,
frolicking children and pets sheltered smiles from thoughts of the
long winter months which lay ahead. It was a shame he had to be
cooped up on a day as wonderful as this. It was a perfect day, that
made him happy. To be fair he was, generally, quite happy. Indeed,
he often walked with an all too literal spring in his
step.
    He had to
focus though, for he couldn't make mistakes. It was, quite
literally, a matter of life and death. On came the scrubs, he
wondered why they were backless, and what possible advantage it
could give to hospitals. He didn't know, but then he supposed it
was not his place to. There were many things about hospitals which
he didn't understand. He snapped the latex gloves on his wrists,
making sure they were tight, he relished the latex's sharp
immediate sting. He looked down at the body which lay on his table.
She was a beautiful girl, early 30’s. Blonde lengths of hair
covered her scalp the way a sea of golden grain covers a once
tilled field. He was happy that he had the privilege of working on
her, he'd spent many years honing his practice so that he might be
known as the best, and now he surely would be. He thought about how
much he'd learned getting to this point, and how many he had
helped, and indeed how many he'd hurt. He had to focus, and so
shook the thoughts free from his head. Gently, with one eye on the
pulse monitor, he cut into her. Delicate skin gave way as easily
wet tissue when it met