Asher | Xurk (@ashertree) — Bluesky Profile

2 months ago

My Dog and I Stop in Different Places

There is a couple walking in front of us. They walk hand and hand, same rhythm, same speed. We cannot be like them, precious dog. You are on a leash that I am holding and so you are attached to me, but we move in fits and spurts. You stop to piss, and I don’t pay attention, causing the leash jerk you forward. I stop for traffic and you look at me, patiently. You are much more patient than I am, but you stop more often than I do, and for less important things. Sniffing and pissing, head to the ground, we ping-pong down the street as though we do not know each other.

Recently my local gym closed for good, and we pass by the building on our walk. I cannot help but stop and look through the windows. And it’s striking how similar the place looks. There is the same counter and cash register. There are yoga mats, and half finished bottles of water. There are the same putrid yellow and red walls. But now there are also leaves on the floor that nobody bothered to sweep up, and now the lights are off and you can sense they will not be turning back on. It doesn’t take long before a place looks old, even if not much has changed.

You are stopped also (you have to stop when I do) and it occurs to me that I have been unfair to you. What do you stop for, dog? How many animals have died on this sidewalk? Can you smell their essence? Can you smell food particles degrading into concrete? Can you smell the shit of other dogs? If I could smell all of that rot, I think it would drive me mad. And yet you are plain and unsentimental in your pursuit. Sometimes when you stop, I pull you forward. And you walk with me until you stop again.

I have written quite a few bits of flash fiction and done nothing with them, but they are all like this. I would like to write one that is not vaguely disconcerting, one day

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2 months ago

Yay :)

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1 year ago

Writing is cheaper than anxiety medication

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1 year ago

The first poem I wrote for bluesky I guess

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1 year ago

GOTTA be Bulma

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