#hxtters

“You stopped by yesterday.”

He’s not in the habit of raising his voice. Or distorting it with emotions. Indeed, it would be hard for anyone to say with a degree of confidence that they’ve ever heard the inflection of his voice change. Even so, despite the monotonous delivery of the one sentence, only the willfully ignorant could deny that he is angry.

It’s not often he leaves home—for excellent reason, as has been demonstrated far too many times for his liking—and when he does, he always leaves very specific instructions for how the visitors of the shop are expected to behave in his absence.

1. Do not disturb the rabbits. 2. Do not touch the jars or drawers. 3. Do not feed the Cat. 4. Any orders are to be left on the front counter and he will complete them when he returns.

Simple rules, really; a measly handful to burn into their skulls if they don’t want the next concoction poured down their throats to turn them inside out. And yet...

spotlights dim a few moments after the music stops - the sound echoes around the room still, reverb, a ripple in the faceless dark - a blur of lights and flashes of skin, this all ends only to be replaced by whistling, hooting - other sounds. she descends into the crowd, walking the space between tables and booths like pews.

(lift your leg as you walk, the beginning of it all - a long line of muscle, the slope of your calf, the gentle space behind your knee - something to look at, something to touch.) 

she imagines a face she hasn’t seen in months. lights strobe, casting her own a shadow - all the same, everything in the dark. heading backstage to remove her costume - trailing behind her, pink plumed and sequined - to slip into something entirely more intimate for the remainder of the time tonight, another familiar face emerges - one from a different life, a time nearly forgotten. 

(girls in white, the shine of freshly waxed floors, the clicking of heels down hallways, somewhere just out of view - of sunlight and laughter hidden away in rooms where nothing is demanded of them, a wonderland that is long lost.)