Michael Seidlinger - The Laughter of Strangers

And you know what?

I’M OKAY WITH IT

I exhale, “I guess you are right. I could get used to this.”

Sarah asks me, “What do you plan on getting used to?”

I listen to the silence.

I tell her, “I’m going to face the laughter.”

She grins.

“I want to change. I want to be something else. Like you said, I get to be the fighter after the fighting. I get to figure out what that means, and I’m okay with that. I choose to embrace challenge. I’ll haunt somewhere else.”

Sarah breaks character, saying in her own voice, “Yay!”

Yeah. Let the world go on without me. I will be here. I will haunt the areas that heal me, and I will soon be healed. I have time before I turn into someone else. I have time to decide who I’ll become.

Sarah grins, “You can only be yourself.” She turns on the TV I didn’t notice until now and sits on the bed as we watch the final round of the fight.

A moment later we hear the sounds of the house settling.

Getting used to this.

First thing I have to do is break some bad habits. That means this is where I leave you. I can’t keep talking to myself. If I keep it up, you might get the idea that none of this really happened and that’s the last thing I need. I’ve played the insanity card and it got me a few wins but one too many punches to the ego. So, yeah, this is where I leave you.

IT’S ME, WILLEM

It’s been real.

Michael J Seidlinger has been in the ring long enough to experience the sting of a perfectly timed power punch. He’d like to think that every novel represents a fight its author has both fought and won. His other fights include

My Pet Serial Killer

and

The Sky Conducting

He owns and operates Civil Coping Mechanisms, an indie press specializing in innovative fiction and poetry. Find him on Facebook, Twitter (@mjseidlinger), and at michaeljseidlinger.com.