Miles away,
a teen with a mouth full of fire ants
devours children and no one stops him,
not until the McDonald’s parking lot
is an ocean of bones.
A goblin in suit scavenges what he can for his masters.
Miles away,
a retiree in headset takes orders
from cheap static.
A pruned tongue comes to lick the floor
until the lobby smells as purified and
unatoned as the inside of a bank.
My break ended fifteen minutes after I spot
my baby brother’s femur on the lobby TV.
I sob under a booth until a customer
catches me and
crouches down onto their brotherly knees
to ask
if the Ice Cream Machine is working.
Header photograph © Skye Savage.
Meaghan Curley’s short fiction has appeared in the anthology “Ellipsis: An Anthology of Humorous Short Stories” (2014). She has also published a novel through Cosmic Teapot Publishings, titled “Girl: Repurposed”. Find her on Twitter @Forgetful_Bacon.