..::sparkle and fade::..

..::18.03.04::..

i'm in what looks like my grandparents living room. there is a long couch, a skylight and a glass coffee table. however, it is my apartment, and like my apartment, todd lives above me. i have fallen asleep on the couch. i wake up to a crashing noise. it's storming outside. bothered, i figure todd can take care of whatever happened to cause me to wake. i stumble into my bedroom. i'm half drunk feeling. i sleep on my stomach. tossing most of the night. when i wake i feel uncomfortable, mainly below the waist. i have no recollection of the evening's events until i walk out into the living room. barefoot. there are several tree limbs lying in the living room. a large one burst through the ceiling and smashed the coffeetable. there is glass everywhere. the red jacket i left close to the couch looks like it has been sprinkled with sparkly powder. i wonder how i could have ignored that. it's then that my attention turns to my legs. i look down at my thighs. there are two huge pieces of glass embedded in them. they're jagged and sharp and my legs are bleeding. apparently my discomfort was caused by my stomach-sleeping as was pushing them farther and farther into my legs. i call for help. two men arrive. i'm assuming they're emt or something. one is thin, with short dark hair and a neatly manicured beard. i don't remember the other. they say they'll help me, but that they're really hungry. they want triscuits and some meat. oddly, i have a box of triscuits on my counter. they are looking through my fridge and my freezer, despite the fact that i tell them repeatedly that i wouldn't have any meat in there. time lapse. next thing i know my mom and i are at the mall. i tell her that my legs hurt. the glass is still in them and i'm wearing the glass-dusted red jacket. i wake up.

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i walk into the coffeeshop this morning, like i do almost every morning, and there is a little paper cup with some sort of thick dark brown liquid in it. it's sort of splashed up on the sides. it looks like...and the sign reads "take a whiff." i had to say something. apparently it was their new syrup, but man. it was gross.

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when i got to work this morning, i opened my car door and was greeted with the overwhelming smell of formaldehyde. the entire outside smelled like it. and the most horrible thing is this: there is a funeral home two doors down. and i'm wondering if that's where the smell is coming from. and if yes, well, then what happened?