22.
drew kalbach
She put on a top hat and a feather boa and asked me to tell her a universal truth. The captain showed her an old dirty sock and told her to go fuck herself. The captain lit a fire in the middle of the room and roasted a duck. The pigeons were offended but the captain told them the smoke mingling with my wallpaper would produce a very important universal truth. We all watched as he turned the duckover and over and over. The smoke began to rise and mingle with the wallpaper. The captain strained to keep his rhythm smooth and even. She stood nearby and shifted from foot to foot. A nervous tribal dance. My entire room was full of duck smoke. We coughed and hacked. Nothing happened. The pigeons tried to open a window but the captain told them to stop and watch. The wallpaper began to peel away from the wall. The wallpaper fell to the ground and formed the word 'because.’ We watched in silence. The captain nodded to the pigeons and told them to open a window. We fanned the smoke outside. The wallpaper did not move. She stared at it for a long time. The rest of us feasted on roasted duck. She twisted some yarn into rope and tied her teeth to mine. She crushed a porcelain tea cup. We fed each other the shards then made love on the bathroom floor without flushing the toilet.