{"id":1778,"date":"2019-12-29T01:10:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-29T01:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/?p=1778"},"modified":"2019-12-24T01:20:33","modified_gmt":"2019-12-24T01:20:33","slug":"a-swim-in-the-glaire-by-dale-stromberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/2019\/12\/29\/a-swim-in-the-glaire-by-dale-stromberg\/","title":{"rendered":"A Swim in the Glaire by Dale Stromberg"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you did as I do, I\u2019d call you my foe.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re in the labyrinth, looking for the exit.\nYou turn right at one corner, then left at the next. Turn left. Left again.\nRight. Right again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though each wall and each corner look\nidentical, you sense you\u2019re nearing the exit. Right. Left. Left again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when you round the next corner, you are\nface to face with the minotaur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no escape. Your whole frame trembles.\n\u201cPlease don\u2019t kill me.\u201d You rush the words out. \u201cDon\u2019t eat me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course I\u2019m not going to eat you. I just\u2026 I\ndidn\u2019t realize you were coming.\u201d The minotaur sits on the ground. \u201cCan we talk?\nGot a minute?\u201d His horns span more than a meter. They sag downward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a while, neither of you speaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally the minotaur starts. \u201cAre you mad at\nme?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, of course not. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou never come, for one thing.\u201d He sounds\npettish. \u201cEverybody hates me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, come on, now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shakes his taurine head. \u201cSorry. I\u2019ve just\nbeen down in the dumps these days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo I gathered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minotaur sighs. \u201cThey\u2019re never going to\nlet me out of here. I\u2019m a total monster. Even if I got out, what could I do?\nCan\u2019t exactly get a job, right? Let alone a girlfriend. Apart from eating\npeople, I don\u2019t have any marketable\nskills<\/em>.\u201d He gives his words a bitter twist. \u201cI feel like I don\u2019t have a\nfuture. Because I<\/em> can\u2019t change. It\u2019s\nlike\u2026 like wandering through a night with no moon or stars. I\u2019m so depressed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have no idea how to respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m always hungry. Always hungry<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your scalp crawls. You start to sweat. \u201cThat\nsounds awful.\u201d You sit stock still, but your eyes dart frantically, searching\nfor an exit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know why you came here,\u201d says the minotaur\nin soft, measured syllables. He rises to his feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo reason, really. In fact, I\u2019ve got to get\nmoving now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You giggle. Your entire body goes clammy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI told you to stay put. Didn\u2019t I say that?\u201d\nHe snorts sharply. \u201cYou never listen to me. It pisses me off. You hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt always ends up like this. It\u2019s always my <\/em>emotions that are stronger. Don\u2019t you\nknow how I feel about you? Won\u2019t you stay here with me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am <\/em>here\nfor you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut you\u2019ll leave someday?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, never. I\u2019m here for you, baby. Forever.\u201d\nYou scan desperately for a way out, but escape is impossible. \u201cFor as long as\nyou want me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know why you came here,\u201d repeats the\nminotaur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your blood runs cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour skin looks so soft. Succulent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou promised. You weren\u2019t going to eat me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShut the fuck up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut you promised.\u201d You\u2019re on the verge of\npanic\u2014of tears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou knew I was here. I\u2019m always here. And you\ncame, didn\u2019t you? You know what I am. Always a monster. Always hungry. Always\ndepressed. Always in the darkness. Always waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis time I just want to go home. Please.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou little bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll come back. I promise. I just want to\ngo.\u201d Your panic peaks. \u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re just trying to fuck with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlease let me go home.\u201d Tears of terror wet\nyour cheeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minotaur towers over you, his eyes full of\nrage and hatred. \u201cFine. Whatever. Get out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll come back.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSee if I care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI promise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You back away and turn a corner. And another.\nThe minotaur\u2019s breath is on your neck\u2014no, that\u2019s an illusion. Turn right.\nRight. Left. Left again. You stumble into a run, searching for the way out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you can\u2019t remember how you got in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dale Stromberg studied writing with the novelists Richard Bankowsky and Doug Rice in Sacramento, and lives in Malaysia now with his family. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you did as I do, I\u2019d call you my foe. You\u2019re in the labyrinth, looking for the exit. You turn right at one corner, then left at the next. Turn left. Left again. Right. Right again. Though each wall and each corner look identical, you sense you\u2019re nearing the exit. Right. Left. Left again. … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa867U-sG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1778"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1781,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions\/1781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}