Other like me has sky brightness. He showed me. It was like many sky brightnesses, but small. They are in a piece of hard ground. They move like sky brightness on water, but they are in a piece of hard ground.
He has it. He looks at it. He touches it.
I want the small sky brightnesses on the piece of hard ground like I want food, but different. I want to look at it. I want to touch it. I pick up a piece of hard ground. This piece has no sky brightnesses. But, it is hard. I will use it to get the small sky brightnesses that other like me has. I will touch him hard and his red water will come out and I will take the sky brightness on the piece of hard ground from him.
I want to have the sky brightness on the piece of hard ground. I want to look at it. I want to touch it. I want it to be mine.
I go to other like me. He is looking at the piece of hard ground, but there are no sky brightnesses in it now. He shows me. His piece of hard ground looks like my piece of hard ground. I do not want it now.
He goes from inside the safe place to outside the safe place. He makes happy noises. I go to him. He shows me the piece of hard ground again. The sky brightnesses have returned. They move when he moves it. I want it again. I touch it. He makes anger noises and touches me hard. I raise my piece of hard ground and touch him hard with it. His red water comes out. He makes strange noises. I touch him hard again with my piece of hard ground. He makes no noises now.
The sky brightness in the hard ground is mine. I look at it. I touch it. It is mine.
Rob Swystun is a fiction author, ghostwriter, journalist, freelance business writer, and songwriter living and working in Winnipeg. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Athabasca University and a journalism diploma from Langara College. Rob writes both literary fiction and genre fiction. His work has appeared in The Queen’s Quarterly, Scarlet Review, Hamilton Stone Review, and in various anthologies. Currently, he is looking for a home for his debut novel manuscript, working on a second novel manuscript, and continuing to write short stories.