Susan started having a bit of a breakdown. She couldn’t sleep then thought that maybe she was asleep and couldn’t wake up. She put her hand on her heart and couldn’t feel it beating. She tasted something metallic in her mouth. “It is the wrong idea,” she said. She tasted hair in the air. “It needs brushing,” she said. She found a brush and brushed the air. She sat on the carpet next to the bed and told the stuffed tiger that Genie had won for her to go stand by the door. She told the door to stay where it was. She called Genie on the phone. Genie answered. “I’m not here,” Genie said. Genie hadn’t answered. Susan wasn’t even holding her phone. Susan went into the bathroom and started telling the face in the mirror to be quiet but it kept talking, screaming even. She went back out into the bedroom. The tiger hadn’t moved. “Move,” she whispered. “Move.” The tiger moved. Susan ran back into the bathroom. She brushed the air in there, unwilling now and forevermore to face the tiger.
©2020 Ben Greenman/Stupid Ideas
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