Animal Shake Head

A Short Story

Writer
You know what’s strange? People wanting to see the bodies of young women. Imagine being a young woman. You have grown up in that body. It’s as common to you as grass. It’s as common to you as toothpaste or potatoes.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Let’s start again.

You know what’s strange? People wanting to see….(read this next part really fast, with-all-the-words-run-together-no spaces-between-them-you-are-scanning-to-find-where-you-should-start-in-again)… the bodies of young women. Imagine being a young woman: you’ve grown up in that body. It’s as common to you as grass. It’s as common to you as toothpaste or potatoes.

Girl
The staring starts. Slowly at first — nothing overt, just — you turn around and see people look away. Your mom’s the worst. As the months pass, the looks get less hidden and more — in your face — you shrink into your clothes and hold your arms over your tiny — you hate them — breasts.

The aberrations become little volcanoes: concave-sided triangles, not rounded, with large, dark tops that shine through t-shirts — the one with the blue flowers — you hate wearing it, now.

If it gets cold, or rains, like it did at the fair, the squares of toilet paper don’t help. You remember the nipples, as large as nibs candies — completely visible, though yellow — they might as well have not been covered by that halter top — on the older, unashamed one — she might as well have been one of the cows in the agricultural barn. Or being led around for joke bingo where the letters are called when she can’t hold it in anymore — when she absolutely has to relieve herself — number two — in spite of the leering, wrinkled and red farmers waiting to watch.

Owner
“What is this animal worth?” “Can this animal make me a rich woman?” “What kind of man can this animal attract?”

Animal
Confusion. Animal hides animal-ness. Hassle; attention — animal won’t breed, anyway. Moon. Why? Jesus. School. Evil. Animal is good. Animal

Want love. Animal has it. Animal has Love. Animal

Questions.

Love is good. Love feel bad. Animal no like Feel Bad. Animal shakes shaggy head but badness not there. Animal stuck.

Animal in swamp Of Love. Animal not liking. Animal wonder if Hate better? Animal know bad thoughts kill. Soul. Animal want Life. Animal not want Hell.

Animal want smart. Animal want freedom. Animal let brain operate without driving. Scary. Animal know brain bad. Animal know hell in closet, below clothes. Animal know thinking bad, except for school.

Animal kill Owner. Animal kill Owner again and again and again. (Hell not taking retribution, for animal’s killing.)

Animal step on Owner’s eyeballs. Animal step through Owner’s eyes. Animal has (modest) high heels. Commemorate Sweet Sixteen. Animal wear animal on feet.

At night, before animal sleeps, animal stops Owner’s eyes.

Animal cannot stop. Animal shake shaggy head but nothing, happen.

Animal alone. Alone with boots and Owner. Animal push heel through Owner’s eye socket. Bad, think Animal and Animal Thrill. Animal flutter in heart. Animal not frightened: Hell is just a clock radio reflection in the mirror anyway.

Next day, animal feel puffy, bloated. Animal like to kill. Animal shed body and fly like lithe gazelle. Legless gazelle: all aerodynamic, soul, essence, energy. Animal gather energy close and hold on.

Animal black and beautiful though nobody can see. Animal sneak into Owner’s mind and plant disease. Death is seed; brain, earth and eyeball socket, hole. Animal plant seed in hole. (Boot is hoe.)

Everything animal do is bad yet everyone think Animal innocent, naive, harmless.

Animal shake head. Animal want power.