{"id":10147,"date":"2022-03-13T08:39:46","date_gmt":"2022-03-13T08:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuartpoetry.art\/?p=10147"},"modified":"2022-03-13T11:58:03","modified_gmt":"2022-03-13T11:58:03","slug":"two-short-fictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/13\/two-short-fictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Short Fictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

I will always be your lover<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frank and Angela were lying on rough blanket in the room<\/p>\n

Where the old photocopiers came to die<\/p>\n

There were three of these machines against the far wall<\/p>\n

Apart from that the room was bare<\/p>\n

On its only shelf there were three bottles of powder half full<\/p>\n

And a Spice Girls magazine<\/p>\n

This had amused Angela<\/p>\n

I will always be your lover<\/em><\/p>\n

I know\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Even when you are married with children I will be here<\/em><\/p>\n

Have you ever noticed that when skin touches skin there is an instant feeling\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I am covering you and am relaxed to the point of rest\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Whereas an hour ago I was close to tears and ready to walk\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Frank had received a message from Angel A<\/p>\n

He had walked quietly towards to warehouse and had let himself in to the photocopier room<\/p>\n

Frank was the only key holder which was never questioned<\/p>\n

Do you think that they are missing us<\/em><\/p>\n

Possibly but as an engineer I am here there and everywhere\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I am not missed\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

What about you\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

They will think that I am having one of my thinking moments\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I often disappear just to go away and think\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

That is the way I function\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

But normally I go away to cry\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Everybody wants a piece of me\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I am not longer whole\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I am the brilliant Angel A\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Whose ideas and drive in some ways keep this wretched company afloat\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Frank and Angela had made silent love<\/p>\n

Quietly on the rough blanket<\/p>\n

Whose sole purpose was to protect the redundant photocopiers<\/p>\n

Who is your favourite Spice Girl<\/em><\/p>\n

I do not really have one<\/em><\/p>\n

I liked Baby Spice as she seemed the softest and least visible of the group<\/em><\/p>\n

How do you think the magazine ended up on the shelf<\/em><\/p>\n

Heaven knows<\/em><\/p>\n

Somebody must have popped in here long before us for a quick read<\/em><\/p>\n

Possibly<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you realise that if the driver returns to the contractors coach that he will be able to see us both<\/em><\/p>\n

It is an odd place to park the coach<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps other people use this room<\/em><\/p>\n

I am the only key holder<\/em><\/p>\n

It is likely that it is because that we are in the nearest building to the gate<\/em><\/p>\n

Not so far to walk<\/em><\/p>\n

He is a rather large man<\/em><\/p>\n

Most coach drivers are<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you think that we will ever be discovered<\/em><\/p>\n

There would be such a scandal<\/em><\/p>\n

I think that I would leave the company<\/em><\/p>\n

If they let you Angel A<\/em><\/p>\n

You are so good for me Frank you are always here when I am shattering<\/em><\/p>\n

And you are good for me Angela<\/em><\/p>\n

You ask nothing of me<\/em><\/p>\n

And I ask nothing of you<\/em><\/p>\n

I will always be your lover Angel A<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Breathing<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had the most horrible dream last night\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Really was it a nightmare\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I would not call it a nightmare\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It was just a disturbing dream\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I dreamt that I could no longer breathe\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I was alive but I could not breathe\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Describe your dream to me\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It was a simple dream\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Almost minimalist in its content\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I dreamt that I was walking along a coastal promenade\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Which for some reason narrowed alarmingly\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It was however blocked by a large concrete block\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Which was a pure cube\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I asked why it had been placed in such an uncomfortable location\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

And was told that it was a relic from the Cold War\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It was then as I pushed against it that I realised that I was not breathing\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I was perfectly well and all my faculties were in working order\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

But I was not breathing\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

What did you do\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I was starting to panic\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

And then\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I awoke from the dream\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

That was a relief\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Indeed\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

As you know I have had a heavy cold and I have found clear breathing a strain\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

But what disturbed me yet at the same time explained my dream <\/em><\/p>\n

Was that my red pillow was jammed against my wooden bedside table\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

That was the Cold War concrete block\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

My lack of breath was due to this wretched cold\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In a way the dream had existed inside and outside my consciousness<\/em><\/p>\n

It was such an unusual feeling\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I will always be your lover Frank and Angela were lying on rough blanket in the room Where the old photocopiers came to die There were three of these machines against the far wall Apart from that the room was bare On its only shelf there were three bottles of powder half full And a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10147"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10155,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10147\/revisions\/10155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}