Carpet Diem

by Justin Lee Anderson

Simon had wondered whether it was psychologically significant that an Irish Catholic girl had turned out a lesbian after her entire family was blown to pieces the first time she touched a penis.

Of all the people in the world Simon almost liked, he almost liked Harriet the most.

he decided not to acknowledge their presence for a while. He was secretly irked by the knowledge that even if they noticed, they probably wouldn’t care.

It was as if someone had melted his insides into a comfy mess, then poured him into a bath full of yum.

Simon felt a bit sick. Not in his stomach, though. He felt sick in the depths of his soul, where his certainties lay. They’d had a good kicking of late, and were prone to disorientation.

“My Lord, girlie, you’ve the heart of a lion and the mind of a harlot!”

She had a sensuous Southern drawl that made Simon think of hot summer nights, white cotton shirts, repressed homosexuality and insidious racism.

Simon was more than capable of being excited and terrified at the same time. Like a mouse, he could live perpetually on the edge of a significant coronary event.