Sela is back with a dialog, not just between two unidentified characters but between us and them. This amorphous, non-us is all around us and must be stopped, for theirs is a culture that cannot be reconciled with ours (though perhaps by ours).
Send in your shorts, folks. I’m a little swamped right now, but I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. As always: flashfiction@sacurrent.com. Also feel free to shoot me an email with any questions, comments or concerns (or just to say hi).
Enjoy!
—Lyle Rosdahl
Imprecatory Prayer by Marisela Chavez
1: They broke into our place—did you hear?
2: Heard they stabbed someone last night at a bar. What were they looking for?
1: What they’re always looking for. They took the computers, tvs, the Wii. Drank our beer out back. Left their empties on the steps.
2: They marked on your territory, man. Animals.
1: I bet they used our new porch swing—we haven’t even had the chance.
2: Bet they screwed on it.
1: They went through our drawers, wrecked the shelves, tossed our Disney World photo into the fish tank. Destroyed my son’s Lego kingdom. They tracked mud all over.
2: Probably needed drug money. Probably have rotten teeth, boils all over.
1: It happened between noon and two. Broke the day right in half.
2: They must not have jobs.
1: They left our inside cat out!
2: Probably meth heads. They’re careless.
1: They have my laptop, my passwords, my work. They have everything. I’ve had to cancel everything.
2: Maybe the neighbors remember a suspicious car around, someone creeping about.
1: If I’d of been home, man, they’d be sucking up their blood with a wet vac.
2: I’d of shot them in the face.
1: They’ll end up in prison with the rest.
2: They’ll find what they’re looking for in prison.
—
Lyle Rosdahl, a writer living in San Antonio, edits the flash fiction blog & best of in print for the Current. He created, facilitates and participates in Postcard Fiction Collaborative, a monthly flash fiction response to a photo. You can see more of his work, including photos, paintings and writing, at lylerosdahl.com. Send your flash to flashfiction@sacurrent.com.
This article appears in Apr 11-17, 2012.