Issue XLIV
Concerning writer's block, a tease, & a step-by-step guide to destroying the world...
From the Desk of William Pauley III
I’ve come to tell you a story,
but the words will never reach your ear.
They all stick to my skin like
styrofoam beads.
They slither down my spine,
crawl around my knees,
gather at my ankles,
but never to your ear.
Never to your eye, never to your ear.
I stumble across the room.
It all feels like a sinking ship to me.
The waves.
The crashing.
The terror.
I slip and suddenly I’m grounded.
My stomach roars and out through my mouth
gushes a projectile of conversations.
With every contraction
more dialogue spills out.
Through my nose
my mouth
until at last
my stomach is emptied.
Then I black out.
I awaken twenty minutes later
to find my clothes soaked with thoughts
the floor seeped in dreams
but never to your eye, never to your ear.
There’s no one around to help me move.
No one to help me to my feet.
Doorknobs snap when I apply my weight.
Wounds open and memories come to the surface,
spurting across the carpet
but never to your eye, never to your ear.
I pull myself to my feet and somehow manage
to reach the bathroom.
I flip the switch and the light burns out my vision.
I squint until my sight returns.
Eyes open.
I’m a mess.
I wash my face clean of ink
then gargle some water
spitting out the remainder of my vocabulary
some words I forgot I knew,
down the drain.
Towel to face.
Skin rubbed pink.
I examine my teeth.
Words creep inside every crevice,
fearing the purge.
They slide into one another,
multiplying inside my mouth.
I can feel them,
living,
breathing
yet, still
I cannot speak.
Words,
they cover my teeth like plaque.
They eat away at me like a disease.
Infiltrating my organs,
infesting my every thought,
They consume me
constantly.
A plague.
But not contagious.
Never to your eye, never to your ear.
Writer’s Block
© William Pauley III, 2006
All rights reserved.
“Factual Conversation”
dir. Jan Švankmajer
Last Week / This Week
WARNING: “Strange Weather” is coming February 15th, 2024. Are you ready?
Last week, on Storytime!, we checked out an excerpt from my novella ‘Fight Tub,” the story of the man who became his bathroom. Yes, you read that right. What? Haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet? No worries! It’ll be available to stream for free for the rest of the weekend. Check it out here.
On this Monday’s episode of Storytime!, in honor of St. Valentine’s Day, we’ll be reading the closest thing I’ve ever written to a love story. It’s about a boy and a bloodsucking VCR he finds at the dump. Be sure to check out “$5 Electric Suzie” when it drops! You won’t want to miss it! Be sure you’re subscribed so you’re notified the moment it goes live:
Check out this excellent reader review of Fight Tub! Thanks, Esti! Pick up a signed copy here.
This week, paid subscribers had special access to rare DOOM FICTION items during the New Moon sale AND also got a sneak peek at a story dropping in March! Did you miss it? Check it out here.
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Oddities Theater
Golem is a 1980 Polish science fiction film directed by visionary Piotr Szulkin.
Synopsis: The film is set in a terrorizing world of the future, where technology commands the movements of individuals, supervised by the doctors, carrying out a program to improve the human race. Thus, instead of doctors creating a monster, the monsters are already there as the species of the future - but one of them is suspected by the doctors of being a human being. That is Golem in reverse. (Polish Cinema Database)
HOW TO DESTROY THE WORLD
[A Step-By-Step Guide for Evil Geniuses]
by William Pauley III
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