The last fish in the world said nothing. It had been alive for so long that it had seen all the creatures of the sea slowly disappear. It swam through the murky depths, alone and silent, its scales reflecting the dim light of the deep. It had seen the destruction of its home, the pollution, the overfishing that took away its friends and family. It had nothing left to say. It simply continued to swim, a noiseless witness to the destruction of its species.
No one knows where this last fish went. It is likely a tiny, elusive creature that managed to evade capture. Scientists never observed the last fish in the world, but its existence is acknowledged by all the wise ones. It is a symbol of fragility. The last fish in the world will never be seen by you, me, or anyone else. But if by some miracle you happen to see the world’s last fish, consider yourself a blessed one who will live a very long life.
A cold ground and thunder rumbling outside. All darkness at first and no memory of how I’d gotten here. Chilly air and damp.
I called out into the darkness but got no response. I saw what looked to be an old Zippo lighter by my side. I used it to faintly illuminate the room.
I am in prison, but the cell door is wide open.
They say sometimes we have dreams like this, though they could be better called nightmares. Perhaps they are nightmares embedded within nightmares in the subconscious, sleeping world. I have no memory of my life; everything is a blank slate, pale and grayish. The only images playing in my mind are of shadowy figures like ghosts. Though I see no one in this prison, I hear echoes of voices. They’re whispers, so I follow them. They say, “You deserve this,” and “The time is now for your punishment.”
The prison is expansive, set up like a labyrinth. I walk through the corridors and rows of cells, lost. It feels as though I’m wandering in circles. I follow the echoes of the voices. “Come closer,” they whisper. The thunder continues to rumble outside, and brief flashes of lightning that illuminate the prison’s interior. The whispers turn to deeper voices like growling. Then, the barking of dogs, loud, deep barks from vicious chained-up dogs. I can tell they’re chained up because I hear the chains rattle in the nighttime air.
No moon in the sky outside through the windows. My eyes adjust to the darkness so I can see better, but there’s not much to see. Despite the sounds, there still appears to be no one here.
My stomach twists with anxiety. Goosebumps on my arms. The clanging of steel now sounds in the distance. Memories are coming back, not like a flood of them, but little pieces here and there. Memories of a physical struggle, of looking down into the ashen face of a pale man on the concrete. His eyes are the purest light blue, and his smile is devious. He says, “Kill me, you bastard.” Memories of me holding a handgun and the steel’s coldness in my hands.
But it’s all mixed up. The man is on the ground, and his face has changed. The skin is green now, and the tongue is reptilian. The eyes are a deep yellow, and the teeth are sharp like fangs. There’s a crowd encircled around us, watching, cheering. There’s my mother crying, my dead father sleeping and levitating.
I am still walking the prison corridors, listening to noises. When I hit a dead end, the walls start closing in. Just when it appears as if there’s nowhere to go, a heavy door opens and hits me with a blinding red light.
He is a black, nebulous creature with wings. He has no face to speak of, and his body is not humanoid. It is more like a reptilian bird. I know this is GOD, though, for some reason. Something tells me it is.
I wait for the thing to speak while it flaps its wings. Then, the creature, GOD, opens its terrible, cavernous mouth and lets out the most horrible sound I could ever imagine. It blows me backward and pierces my bleeding eardrums until it makes me deaf and mute. The sound continues unabated, and the pressure in my brain keeps getting worse until it suddenly stops.
Everything is in complete darkness again. A garden has formed in this small room, filled with radiant blue flowers. A garden of the night within the prison walls. I fall asleep, I think, but I awake in the garden again.
There is no escaping this place. This is my home now, for eternity. Whatever punishment must come, it doesn’t matter. Whether I am cursed or blessed, I do not know. I know nothing anymore. Nothing but pain.
The sky was a deep, dark red, and the clouds were thick and black. Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder roared like a demon. The wind was strong and fierce, the rain was heavy and unrelenting. The ground shook and trembled, and the darkness was intense as night had fallen. The air was filled with howling and the smell of sulfur and ash.
I am reminded of my sins and the wrath of my deadness. The burning of dreams and the infernal existence of going astray. My counterparts here have crooked smiles and welcome me. “What is it you’re looking for in this place?” the fiendishly ugly man yells. “I don’t know.” Remove your face and listen to the storm winds of Hell. Remove your innocence and relent.
I was embraced by the warmth of the winter fire. The heat was intense and comforting, and I was wrapped in a blanket of warmth. The fire consumed me, but I felt safe and secure in its embrace. I could feel the heat radiating off the flames as they licked at my skin. I was part of the fire, and it was a part of me. The winter fire was a solace, and I thought I could stay there forever.
The flames symbolized strength and resilience, and I was empowered by its presence. The winter fire consumed me, and I was alive and connected with the world. No amount of scalding skin and brutal screams could take away this feeling of fiery bliss. Death by fire, death by comfort, a heated oblivion.
We hadn’t been in the new house long before I suspected something was very strange. It was the noises at first. Initially, they were soft echoes that repeated the words me and my wife would say. Only in the bedroom, though. And this was awkward, as well, because it would repeat us during noisy sex. Each moan and groan would play out on a three or five-second delay, inevitably distracting us and making us stop. The echoes repeated the noises our dog made, too.
The lines on the highway get blurry when you’re driving for so long. Pete was used to this; he’d stop at whatever town seemed appealing to him. He usually picked where he stopped based on the name of the town. He didn’t know much about these small hamlets throughout the states, nor did he want to. Usually, the smaller and quieter the town, the better for Pete.
I have decided to celebrate tonight. You must be asking why. It’s because here, in my solitary cell, the pagans who worship me, the religious cultists, have thrown an extravagant ceremony that coronates my kingship.
You see, they call me Killer Ugly. I am the god of the downtrodden, the people who most like to dismiss and push aside in this capitalistic free-for-all world. Someone must look out for these folks, no? I am their champion.
So, I want to try something different. I’ve noticed other fiction and poetry blogs on WordPress that do this, and I want to give it a try. Send me your poetry, fiction and art I’ll feature it on Fiction & Ideas.
I’m interested in anything, really, but I especially like the weird fiction and horror genres. However, if you read my blog, you’ll know that I jump around and try my hand at other stuff, too. So, send hopeful poetry, spiritual stuff, science fiction, fantasy, whatever you got.
Here’s a piece of dark humor flash fiction about a village idiot who eats just about anything. It’s about 530 words and has an estimated reading time of 2 minutes. Let me know what you think!
