Stranger Danger: an oldie with teeth
A poem, a beautiful illustration by ALB, and a bonus audio recording...
STRANGER DANGER
The lead weight of myself will not let you swim. Do not be my friend, stranger, if you value light and oxygen. I will not let you swim. It’s so much better to sink, I tell you, so much fun on the ocean floor, down here with all the shipwrecks, the lost scrolls in green bottles, down here with all the rusty fish hooks and broken dreams. The party never stops under the sea. The bioluminescent creatures of the deep breed good company. Tentacles cannot be trusted, stranger, their poison has no cure. Trust corrodes like metal here, your word will turn to sand. Your blood’s already growing cold, stranger, do not take my hand, do not look me in the eye. Do not taste the mermaid wine down here, below the waterline.
First published in Dawn of the Algorithm, Inkshares, 2015.
I'm like a pirate and I was just thrown overboard, but maybe it's better down here!