Fred Aiken Writing

Sad Santa

sad santa claus clouds
draining down unclean gutters precariously
hanging from abandoned rooftops
meant to have a good go

Amnesia Visions Viciously Prophesying Personal Narratives Crushed in a Non-Recyclable Can

Are you interested in buying?

Not in the slightest, I said.

Then why are you here?

I thought you could answer that for me.

The man sitting in the car shifts uncomfortably in his seat. He looks over his shoulder, then back at me. You’re not a cop, are you?

I don’t respond. Instead I light a cigarette, but don’t smoke it.

Hey, I’m leaving if you don’t confirm or deny your status in relation to local PD.

I’ll shoot you.

I forget to respond. The man shoots me. It stings. But when I regain consciousness, I remember everything.

Misspelled Apocalyptic Thoughts on the Precipice of Pseudo-Intellectual Meaning

You know how close the words ‘anesthetic’ is to ‘aesthetic’. I get them confused all the time. Thank god for auto-correct, amiright.

Yeah, so what?

It means…that beauty was originally an alternative pain killer.

The two men watch as an asteroid heads toward the Earth. It looks like a moving sun getting closer and closer. Their eyes are attached to the asteroid and nothing else. Soft, pale speckles move across their field of vision.

One of the men moves a couple of feet to his right to get another angle on the asteroid. His eyes don’t leave the flames biting through the sky.

I imagine it’s a beauty not to feel pain.