Amanda Kiser

Mammal on the Brain

She approached, a cat prowling in the

night as I waited for a bus to Fuji. Her violet

lips peeled back to reveal

rows of shiny teeth. “Looking

for a good time, honey” she asked and I

almost said no. She smelled like sex and

ugly perfume, but then I saw

a dolphin splashing in the ocean

of her eyes. She has no idea, I thought.

She has a mammal in her head! I had to free

the menace before it ate her brain

like it had eaten mine. I took her

to the alley. A rock was on the ground.

Perfect, I thought. It would make

a great hole for the dolphin to swim out!

She yelped when I broke the dam and

fell. I watched for the dolphin

to swim out. Her ocean was all wrong.

All red and sticky. I frowned, thinking

Where did that tricky fish go?