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Lonely Body, by Don Tassone

17/9/2021

 
“What should we do with the body?”

“Ditch it,” he said. “It’s of no use to us.”

“Easier said than done.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’d have to throw it in the dumpster.”

“So?”

“Lenny, the dumpster’s right outside. People would see.”

“Wait until it gets dark then.”

“That’s no better.”

“Why?”

“There’s always a cop around.”

Lenny sighed.

“You know, Brooks, you’re my assistant. You’re supposed to do what I say.”

“Don’t I always?” said Brooks, a scrawny, mousy-looking man.

“Not right now.”

Brooks said nothing.

“I could fire you, you know,” Lenny said.

“Go ahead,” Brooks said with rare bravado.

“Maybe I will.”

Lenny was sitting at his desk, a hunched mound of flesh with thin, gray hair combed over a head the size of a soccer ball.

“You’d have a hard time finding anybody who can do eyes like me,” Brooks said.

“There are others.”

“But nobody who can do them like me. Lips too.”

“You’re kind of full of yourself today, aren’t you?”

“Just stating the facts.”

Brooks seldom stood up to Lenny, but he knew the big man needed him, so he decided to push it.

“I won’t even mention hair,” he said.

“All right!” Lenny bellowed, slapping the desktop with his meaty palms. “I’ll do it myself!”

He got up and waddled across the room, passing head after head, arranged in neat rows on narrow, wooden tables. Dozens of heads, each one anchored to a tabletop with a metal collar. Each was expressionless, staring blankly ahead. Some had hair. Others were bald. Some sported eyelashes and wore lipstick. Others were unadorned. Most were the heads of men and women. One row, though, was made up of the heads of children.

Finally, Lenny reached the body, propped up in the corner, wedged between rows of boxes stacked high against the walls. He wrapped his fleshy left arm around the naked torso and pulled it close. He grabbed hold of the head with his thick right hand and twisted it until it popped off with the sound of a bottle being uncorked.

He dropped the head on a table and drug the decapitated body toward the door of the shop, his shop, where he had worked for nearly five decades, preparing plastic and fiberglass heads for storefronts all over the world.

Why, he wondered, during all that time, had only one arrived with a body?
​
peppermint
17/9/2021 10:12:23 am

UNIQUE! THE OPEN ENDED QUESTION IS A CHALLENGE SO EARLY THIS MORNING. I'M ALWAYS CURIOUS ABOUT YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS THAT BRINGS SUCH STORIES TO LIFE--- WITH OR WITHOUT A BODY. YOUR DESCRIPTION OF LENNY IS VERY VISUAL!

Libby Belle link
17/9/2021 03:25:23 pm

Good heavens that's funny! I love this story. Thank you for the chuckles. I can't wait to share it. Bring it on, Don. This is another side of you I'd like to get to know, and just in time for Halloween. Ha! Ha! Ha! A big caffeine induced cheer!

Kathy K.
17/9/2021 04:39:27 pm

What a hilarious trick to play on your readers. Very creative and well done.

Susan Reid
17/9/2021 06:45:11 pm

Great set up and tension building, Don.

Sue Clayton
18/9/2021 06:04:30 am

Great realistic dialogue, Don, all the while telling a fantastic story.

Don Tassone link
18/9/2021 01:29:59 pm

Thank you all. I'm delighted you enjoyed this story. 🎃

Dee Lorraine
21/9/2021 02:15:19 am

A wonderful combination of macabre and humorous elements! Thanks, Don!

Don Tassone link
21/9/2021 02:20:56 am

Thanks, Dee. I'm glad you enjoyed it. 🎃

Jim link
25/9/2021 11:24:19 pm

I second Dee's comment! Fun story, Don!
Jim

Don Tassone link
26/9/2021 02:26:06 am

Thanks, Jim!


Comments are closed.

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