I can get lost in

Your eyes that seep ocean water

The cracks and valleys in your hands

The sunbeams in your laughter

I see you and

My head rests among the clouds

You walk in starlight, you shimmer and glow and everyone is

captivated

as you walk by

I touch you and I have held the world in my hands,

your universe swallows me whole

This story was an assignment in which were asked to write a short story omitting the letter “a”; a lipogrammatic challenge. I may or may not have purposefully misspelled the word “dissonant” to make the story work..

It is bright, close to blinding outside. Through the tiny clefts in the blinds, slivers of white light splinter upon the wooden floor; the room seems to glow, otherworldly. Eyelids force themselves to uncouple; the girl’s body pushes itself up, her eyes squint. She forces herself into an upright position; she needs to close the window. From outside, the dissnonent sound of a deep, persistent thump of a stereo seeps through the window screen. The girl sighs; the window shuts. She turns, looking down. The floor she’s slept on seems to be dented from her nightly rest. No money, no money for couches, beds, sheets, comforters .Fledgeling with no mother– not for months — no income– the money she spends on food is not hers. Her rent is long overdue. She closes her eyes; long sigh.