observations of a bloodshot mind

 

On the outskirts of a shanty town, borderline inconsequential USA. A duty free half metropolitan nowhere. All morning haunted by strange occurrences leaving my weary mind in semi-panic. These streets are jam packed with crushed and crumpled automotive disasters. The inhabitants of this sprawling distopia meander through traffic with blank faces. A steam like haze hangs eternally here. Sweat pours and the soles of old shoes stick to what long ago could have been called pavement. I make my cautions known to the dozens of strange silent wanderers with a blow of the horn every fifteen feet or so. My charge on this unforgiving afternoon lay less than one half mile from here, though it seems several hours may pass between now and my arrival. I can make no sense of this paradox, so I light another in a seemingly endless line of cigarettes and wait for the fifth revolution of this meaningless traffic light. I let out the clutch and roll four and a half some odd feet forward. One mindless indecisive bastard piloting a ravaged mini van makes his way into the intersection, stops, contemplates the magnitude of the left/right inquiry fumbles about the turn signal and proceeds forward in the nick of time. The light is red again and I fight the urge to vomit vengeful rage. It is at this moment, with the magnitude of the day upon me, that I catch a calming glimpse of ravaged beauty. A dizzying realization. A rare porcelain memento kept frozen in minds eyes to be reflected upon for many...minutes to come. 

"No dogs...?"

Truly baffling to have never seen this. For years I've crawled along these nearly uninhabitable homes keeping the pace of slumbering snails in an effort to keep the food fresh and the lights on. Yet never before noticing the lack of a canine presence. 

"Sweet fucking mystery of mankind", I cried out, "This place isn't fit for stray dogs. How do they entice the humans to stay...?"
 

At my earliest convenience, which took the form of an ambulance thoughtlessly charging the street corner, I changed course for the farthest bar. If a dog wouldn't drink in this shit hole, I damn sure wasn't going to take a nip.

Still, there's something more than disturbing about this town. Its as though its citizenry all survived some phenomenally unnatural disaster that no ones had the gumption to explain. An endless blockade of corpses walking silent and thoughtless toward a common uncertainty.