Angband | by Mike Kleine

I awake in the sand near a body of water. I ask a man wearing a mask, what is this place? The man says, a place near the dark forest. The sky is a beautiful grey. There’s girls in red cars and children playing games on the tarmac. I see a horse tied to a tree. I say, the horse, who does it belong to? The man Alejandro says, that horse belongs to no one. I take the horse and whisper into its ear, your name is Samuel. A woman separating pebbles and stones from dried kidney beans looks up and says, what did you say to her, the horse? I tell the woman, I told the horse its name. A boy laughs and says, that horse is a girl. I ride the horse to the train station. I tell Samuel, wait for me. I see a man in a blue suit. I point to the train. The man says, yes. I say, a ticket, to go to where the train is going, how much? The man in the blue suit says, it’s going to cost you, and he points to the train like I pointed to the train. He says, the train is full right now. I say, how much, to get on a train that is full? He says a number and I look up into the sky, as if I am searching for something. The man says, you don’t have much time. I call for Samuel but Samuel does not come. I walk over to Samuel and look into the saddlebag. There is no money. Instead, I find a moon rock and earth magnets. I go back to the man in blue and say, I have a moon rock and earth magnets. The man in blue says, the earth magnets are useless but the moon rock, I can take. I wave goodbye to Samuel. We take the passageway between the canyons and the dark forest. I look up into the sky and realize, the moon is closer today than it was yesterday. The earth magnets move around in my pocket.

 

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Mike Kleine is the author of Kanley Stubrick (We Heard You Like Books, 2016) and other texts. He grew up in West Africa and graduated from Grinnell College with a B.A. in French literature. He currently lives somewhere in the Midwest.