Bigfoot
She was enjoying the cheap red wine
While I was drinking bottled beer
Because
I liked beer in bottles better than cans
–When I die-
I asked her
–Will you come to my funeral—
She glanced at me over the top of her glass
–What the hell kind of question is that—
–What—
I said
–I just wanted to know—
–I don’t like talking about things like that—
She said
I swallowed some beer
Before resting the bottle on the arm of my chair
–What do you mean—
I said
–You don’t like talking about death—
–No—
She said
–Not really—
I lifted the bottle
Ready for another drink
–Well—
I said
–We’re all going to die—
Her lips were touching the glass of wine
But I didn’t know
If she was getting ready to take a drink
Or if she had already taken one
–I know—
She said
–I just don’t like talking about it
Okay—
She took a drink of wine
–Well—
I said
–What about ghosts
Do you believe in ghosts—
–I don’t know—
She said
–I guess I want to believe in them
But I’m not really sure—
–Maybe—
I said
–We should take one of those ghost tours—
She looked at her wine glass
–Oh—
She said
–I don’t know about that—
I took another drink of beer
–A friend of mine and his wife went on one
I guess they recorded
A lot of weird noises on their phones—
–Why don’t we just go camping or something—
She said
I laughed
–Maybe—
I said
–We could go look for Bigfoot—
She rolled her eyes
Before having another drink of wine
–Just think—
I said
–If we captured Bigfoot
We would be famous—
She glared at me
–How many beers have you had—
She asked
I laughed as I stood up
–What do you mean—
I said
–You don’t like my Bigfoot idea—
I finished my beer and
Went to get another one
–Sure—
She said
–That sounds really great—
She Came Quietly Into the Room
She came quietly into the room
And told me she didn’t love me anymore
I was sitting at the table
Drinking another cold bottle of beer
I was touching the bottle
With only the tips of my fingers
But I didn’t pick up the bottle
I just looked at her
And I said
–Okay—
Because
I didn’t know what else to say
She just kept standing there
As if she didn’t know what to do
She wasn’t looking at me
She just kept looking out the window
So I turned and looked out the window too
I looked at the back yard
And saw it needed mowing again
I saw all the weeds
Growing along the edge of the field
This year it was planted with soy beans
Next year it would be corn
Past the field I saw the trees
Grown thick and tangled together
I knew there was a house
Out there somewhere
On the other side of those trees
And I knew an old man had lived in that house
But at that moment I didn’t know
If he was dead or alive
I watched a bird rise up
And move quickly across the sky
I picked up the bottle
And took a long drink
She was still standing there
But now she was staring at the floor
And I thought
Maybe
She was waiting for me
To say something else
I set the bottle back down
But kept touching it with my hand
There was a sudden noise and
When I turned my head
I saw she was already gone
She Laughed Again
I had fallen asleep in the recliner
when the doorbell started ringing
it took me a moment or two
before I was pulled from the darkness
and had fully come awake
she laughed
when I opened the door
she didn’t say anything
she just pushed her way
past me into the room
do you like my dress
she asked
it was a sleeveless yellow dress
with flowers printed on it
she slowly twirled around
in the middle of the room
with her arms stretched
out away from her body
what’s not to like
I said
and she laughed again
I shut the door
and stepped toward her
as she lowered her arms
and looked at me
what are you doing here
I asked her
she laughed again
touching my shoulder
before sliding her hand
down the length of my arm
I shivered
I tried to avoid looking at her
what’s wrong she said
aren’t you happy to see me
yes I said
I mean no
I don’t know
she threw her head back
and laughed even louder this time
look I said
I haven’t heard from you
in such a long time
what do you want me to say
she said oh
I don’t know
how about you miss me
I put my hand against my head
and just stood there
well I said
I did miss you
but I think I’m over it now
the way she looked at me
I thought she was
going to say something
but she just laughed at me instead
when she stopped laughing
I noticed she had shrunk
and she was now
several inches shorter
than what she had been before
what’s going on
I asked her
and she laughed again
and then
she shrank some more
and she kept doing this
over and over
until she was no bigger
than an insect
and I could no longer
hear her laughing
so I crushed her
under the heel of my foot
and then
it was my turn to laugh
James Babbs continues to live and write in the best way he knows how. For the past six months or so James has lived across the street from a large antique mall but still hasn’t walked over to check it out. If you’re interested you can find a lot of his writing on that thing they call the internet.
