Lilith bathing in the sunshine with a drink in her hand. To his surprise, she was not alone. She was with another serpent, a man serpent. He too was sun bathing and enjoying a drink.
It seemed sinfully wrong that Lilith should be having a cocktail with an unexpected guest. The boat was sinking.
The introductions and explanations would have to wait, the young man decided. “Our ship is sinking, my one true love. I need your help.”
Lilith laughed. “I won’t help you,” she said. “Why should I? This vessel either stays afloat or it doesn’t. If we sink, then it was meant to be.”
“What are you saying?” the young man asked, quite honestly amazed that his one-and-only friend cared so little about the ship they had created together.
“You heard me.”
“But why? You and I built this ship from nothing. It was a Love Zero; remember? And look what we have created!”
“If you wish to keep patching, than do so,” Lilith said. “I won’t interfere, with that I give you my word. But don’t expect me to lift a hand either. I don’t care enough to assist. If we go under, so be it.”
The young man gasped. “You don’t care enough to assist? But this vessel is all we have! How can you not care?”
Lilith shrugged and locked hands with the other serpent.
Seeing this, the young man’s stomach burned. It was as if all the butterflies inside his belly had died a horrific and unforeseen death. “Are you with him… somehow?”
“No,” Lilith said. She smiled and looked away. “Of course not. Don’t be silly. He is just a friend.”
Suddenly the young man understood her words, her lies… and the position he allowed himself to be in. He felt angry enough to put his fist through a wall. And for the first time since they had met, he saw how ugly Lilith really was, inside and out. She was a serpent.
But of course, he had known this all along.
* * *
The young man ran down the first flight of stairs. The bottom half of the boat was flooded now. His toolbox, which was in the hull, was lost.
He fell to his knees and cried, and his knees began to ache.
The ship is nothing like the beach, he thought. It is hard and cold and un-giving. The beach is freedom; the boat is a prison.
He heard footsteps, followed by a giggle and a splash.
When he checked the deck he found that Lilith and her new friend were gone.
An hour later the ship sank. The young man, feeling lonely and sad, held on to a broken piece of bench and drifted alone in the cold, undefined sea. In the distance he could see a cone shaped raft built for two.
Lilith and her new friend were on it.
* * *
SUFFER SHIRLEY GUNN
Shirley Gunn dragged herself from the loneliness of her double bed and put on a pot of coffee. It was early, 6 am. Once the coffee was brewed she sat in her favorite chair, mug in hand, watching the sunrise through the large bay window in her living room. The town was uncommonly quiet; the streets were empty. Her dog, Blueberry––a beautiful and friendly, chocolate brown, Labrador retriever––was happy to see she had joined the land of the living. He sat close to Shirley’s chair, his tail wagging excitedly.
Shirley smiled and the dog licked the back of her hand.
“Good morning, Blue.”
The dog took a few steps back, stopped wagging his tail and lowered his head.
“Oh, what’s a matter, boy? Shirley said, before slurping from her cup. “You want me to take you for a walk, don’t cha?”
Blue wagged his tail twice more but his heart wasn’t in it. The animal seemed to be carrying the weight of a troubled mind. If Shirley didn’t know better she’d think the dog had been scolded.
She patted Blue’s head lightly and smiled.
The dog nuzzled into her embrace; then quickly pulled away. And with a great sigh, Blue grinned a terrible and bewildering doggy grin, and spoke. “Shirley my dear, you and I need to talk.”
The coffee mug slipped from nervous fingers and fell to the floor beside the chair. Coffee soiled the rug. Shirley’s mouth cracked open and her eyes widened. Her bottom lip quivered and both of her hands began trembling. Her stomach, which had felt fine a moment ago, churned like she was trying to digest a toilet filled to the brim with concrete cement.
The dog talked.
“Oh Lord,” she said. The dog talked!
“Don’t be frightened, Shirley. There’s