Entity

by Meg Smitherman

“Don’t be a pussy, Katherine.” It’s the pep talk I give myself when it’s late, and I’m drunk, and a strange man offers to take me home. When some girl I barely know sells me a bag of unidentified dehydrated fungi. When I see the pendulum about to swing back toward me, but I don’t want to get out of the way. I willingly let the blade eviscerate me, millimeter by millimeter, and I don’t know how much skin and muscle is left before I’ll break wide open, spilling my guts on the floor.