First he sent me gifts, and you know
A girl is not impartial to such things as cheese
(The silks and spices were nice too, but let’s be real.
Cheddar.)
He wanted me to marry him and I played coy
He asked again and again and still I demurred
“My father still needs me,” I lied
He said that if I did not come he would send
A thousand ships for me, and like
Wow
Is that love or is that pure unbridled entitlement
Of course I was flattered
But the ships came and holy shit a thousand
Is a lot of ships. Like
Do you know how long it takes
To count that high?
It was like that, but all at once
The ships choked the harbor and I wished that I
Could swim away like the mermaids
Those bitches saw the fleet coming and skedaddled
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Annika Barranti Klein lives in a tiny apartment in Los Angeles with her family and a lot of books. She writes stories and poems about ordinary girls in extraordinary circumstances (and sometimes vice versa), some of which have been or are forthcoming in Asimov’s Science Fiction, Fusion Fragment, The Future Fire, and Weird Horror. The full list, along with where else to find her, is at annikaobscura.com. |