I.
It happened twice.
On Tuesday, a bandit died.
I tried to rescue someone,
she whipped out an aerosol can.
The spray hit him in the face
while he waved his pistol at us
in an aborted attempt to shoot.
She dropped the can;
her hands were dissolving.
Then I saw the wire mesh of her rib cage,
empty where there should have been a heart.
But there was no time to help,
he was still trying to kill us
as huge hunks of flesh melted off his face.

So I lunged for the can and sprayed.
And sprayed again, until he stopped moving.
But it dripped on my hands too.
They dissolved into nothing and I died. Painlessly.

Unfortunately, it didn't stick.

II.
On Thursday, it was a model monster
with a black plastic lego-like face.
The air stabbed my thumb and I blinked -
did it move itself?
The last finicky piece finally glued into place;
it attacked me! With plastic forks!
Damned thing refused to die
as I tried to tear it back into components.
So I bundled it in brown canvas
and dragged it back to the store.

The cashier guy informed me
it had to be melted via an acid dip.
Huh? Why are they selling these things
when they know they're a problem in the first place????
No answer, he was busy digging out the acid vat.
We dropped the squirming bundle straight in,
but it climbed out and killed the clerk.
So I snatched the mini demon up
and held it under with my bare hands.
They dissolved. Again. But it did stay under.

Tonight I think I'll just refuse to dream.

03/16/2022

Author's Note: As a general rule, I sleep like the dead and remember nothing after. Which makes weird nonsense like this really memorable.

Posted on 03/16/2022
Copyright © 2024 Rhyana Fisher