THE SUPPLEMENTS: "GOBLA"

A behind-the-scenes look at how I wrote "GOBLA"

This is a gobla:

Also known as ficus hispida.

I don't remember coming into contact with one of these over the last couple years, but I must've, because I scribbled its odd name in my writing notebook.

My SO is obsessed with plants, so we frequent conservatories, nurseries, and botanical gardens often. It wasn't surprising to learn the name belonged to a plant—however, until I looked it up more recently, I'd totally forgotten where it came from. I didn't remember writing it, yet there it was. Some mystery word written by my own hand with no memory attached at all.

My story started there, with that floating, disembodied word.

Last year, we bought a house and spent about four months renovating. Every room. Including all electrical and plumbing.

It was hell.

The tub/shower was especially difficult, but I won't get into all of that. The reason I mention it is because at one point, after a series of frustrating failures, I fantasized about taking a sledgehammer to the entire bathroom.

Of course, it would've only made things worse, so I refrained, but I won't lie—twenty minutes of unadulterated violence against that porcelain asshole would've been so swwweeeeeeeeeeetttt!

But even my fantasy brought on more stress. It caused me to think about all the things I'd discover in the process of destroying the walls and the tub. With all the bad luck we seemed to attract during that time, I assumed an act like that would only reveal mold, rot, a dead body, or even worse—an alive body.

Sorry, I have a thing about people living inside my home without me realizing. If you're a longtime reader, I'm sure you've assumed as much with how many times it gets brought up in my fiction.

Okay—now, flash forward to sometime in April 2025 when I was asked to contribute to the third volume of SUM FLUX. I was told the theme of my contribution was to be “plumbing” and it had to be 1,500 words in length.

This is when I first sifted through my notebook for ideas and came across that awful, but meaningless word: GOBLA.

Something felt right about the combination of “GOBLA” and the plumbing theme. Ideas sparked inside my mind as the two ideas repeatedly struck against one another.

Suddenly, I recalled a conversation I had with a reader some months earlier. He asked if I'd ever written about the maintenance man of Eighth Block Tower. I had to think for a minute. I'd written about the landlord, the cafeteria workers, the window washers, and all the folks running The Network, but never about the maintenance man. Surely there was one, right? I mean, he couldn't be too good at his job, based on the condition of the building (will the elevator ever work?), but still, his presence should be acknowledged. There should be an entire story dedicated to him. Was he as mad as the residents? I had to know.

With these ideas bubbling in my brain, I hopped in the shower to help me think. The maintenance man, the plumbing theme, and GOBLA. It was a start, but it wasn't quite enough for a story just yet.

At that moment, the menacing vibrations of an absurdly loud shower drain growl split the air and it sent a cold shiver down my spine.

The sound instantly triggered visions from my violent rage fantasy, as it reminded me of the unbelievably difficult journey it took to have a fully-functioning shower.