UP ALL NIGHT:

The Jack & Southern Comfort ran out at 2:00am, the two young men
had filled a whole reel of tape with songs that had become 
progressively introspective. The light was thin & flat as the sun 
began to rise, they both reluctantly agreed perhaps it really was
time to stop. Lying half clothed on a soft mattress in the spare
room sleep came fast & thick, but when the wake up call came three 
hours later his body was vibrating, a cheese wire was being slowly 
pulled through his head, a woman’s voice like a school day mother 
was singing his name, face peering round the door, already 
dressed & smiling. It should’ve been a pleasant start to the day,
she was pretty, but in his condition the wake up was grotesque, 
all he could see was the face of a pantomime dame. Without thinking 
he got up fast & regretted it, feeling instantly nauseous, unable to 
stomach even toothpaste he barely managing water & declined the milky 
tea cheerily waiting for him on the kitchen table. Instead he slipped 
on an overcoat & followed her out the door. 
At the bus stop did she notice him vibrating, holding onto anything 
that didn’t move? He rested his forehead against a concrete fence post, 
it’s cold & rough texture made him feel a little better, like an 
old friend.
On the back seat of the bus he focused on her voice, the only 
fixed point he could find this early in the morning, she sounded 
nice & ‘nice’ was what he needed. 
Half way into town he began to smile, 
“You’ve perked up” she giggled.
“Do you see anything odd about the inside of this bus?” he dribbled
“No, just a bus full of people going to work”
“Oh!” he chuckled to himself, watching thousands of fluorescent spiders 
running around all over everything & everyone but him & her, this was 
getting interesting.

(K)