Soul Swimming Dark Seven

Jeffrey Field
The Bigger Picture
Published in
2 min readJan 19, 2017

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Something bad lives inside me.

Worse than bad.

Yesterday I threw Roper under the tires of a semi loaded with skunk fruit as the driver with the ten-gallon hat hammered down the highway, oblivious of what he’d done to my little dog.

The day before yesterday I jabbed a flathead screwdriver in the very surprised clerk’s mouth, and no one cared.

I’m a virtuous man. Ask my wife.

I’m also a writer with a writer’s outsized ego. Last December, I called up The Devil and asked for an interview. He said that’d be cool and instructed me to make a black mirror which would act as a meeting place.

In my mind I saw my book skyrocket to the top of The New York Times bestseller list.

Careful what you wish for, right?

Unblinking eyes on eyes unblinking. Lock and load. Are my pupils really turning blood-red? Why do I feel like I’m falling? Never you mind, you bestselling author you, get on with it!

As I opened my mouth to speak something slimy crawled inside.

Doctors tell me there’s a teratoma tumor in my stomach. It’s three centimeters long, two centimeters wide, and about a centimeter deep. Go to the Mayo Clinic and have it removed, they said.

They don’t understand. They will never understand

They gave me a CT scan which showed the mass nestled in the pit of my stomach, but there’s no way of knowing if it’s growing hair or teeth. Or…

The Ferryman is coming. A coin upon my dead lips is payment enough, so why do I fear the journey? Is it the great oar he cradles in his arms? What if I somehow manage to sink The Ferryman’s boat… will he die so I might live?

But why would I want to live like this?

My psychiatrist keeps telling me I’m ok. Not great, you understand. Just ok. He said people often have bad thoughts that spring up, like tiny warts. Nothing to cause great concern.

He doesn’t know, of course. No one knows.

He doesn’t know what I will do to him next visit.

Oh, if he only knew!

NOTE — This piece was written in response to a FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE: SOMETHING THAT SCARES YOU It’s not near 1,000 words but that’s ok cause I’m a minimalist at heart.

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Jeffrey Field
The Bigger Picture

It ain't what you think. Former newsman, car salesman, teacher. Everything is Thou, if you so allow it. You can find some of it at https://youtu.be/w6RtVjMDHzE