Houses Burning and Other Ruins by William R. Soldan

Author:William R. Soldan [Soldan, William R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shotgun Honey, an imprint of Down & Out Books
Published: 2021-05-07T05:00:00+00:00

***

He pulls onto a street crowded with vacant houses and empty buildings. Boarded up windows and doors and stripped siding. Busted steps. Sagging gutters. Remnants of steel worker housing and watering holes from the city’s hey-day. Lost to the last four decades. He parks behind a bar called He’s Not Here. But the joke’s on them because now no one is. Dead sign. Dead dream.

He hoped to cop enough to do himself in right here, in the dark seclusion of a forgotten neighborhood. His wife and son would be better off. As would her grandparents, who have been putting them up for the last year and facing the fallout of Creighton’s day-to-day transgressions. He’s sold their antiques, heirloom jewelry, power tools. The goddamn gas from their riding lawn mower. Shooting enough to unshackle them from his burden would be his greatest recompense. But his habit is one to be reckoned with. Hundreds a day just to stay stable. Tonight, the misfortune of a twenty fold. Won’t even scratch the itch. But depending on how much it’s been stomped on, it might quell the pain. The electric bones and creeping skin. The cold sweats. What’s left, a knotted sack of yellow rocks: on a good day, a few hours maybe. Chasing spots and picking lint from a crumbed rug. Smoking till your fingers are black and blistered. Lips cracked and raw. But this isn’t a good day. No good days but in fantasies.

He sets up in the green and lurid dashboard light.

Three. Two. One.

Failed launch. No Lift off.

Not near what he needs but remedy enough to slow things down. His head. Heart. Quaking limbs. The pain in his shoulder still stings but retreats.

He sits motionless. Digital clock turning out minutes as he wishes for a nod. No more hope for the big sleep, but just a small one. Make this all a bad dream. The only prayer he knows.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.