Jimmy Nebraska's Stories

It's On There For A Reason

2008-05-08T14:28:48Z

“Does this smell OK to you?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“It’s past the expiration date. I don’t like to eat or drink anything that’s past the expiration date.”

“What? Why? That’s just on there …”

“It’s on there for a reason.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean …”

“I’m not taking any chances.”

“Come on.”

“No. No. I’m throwing it away.”

No, you’re not. If you don’t want it, fine. But I’ll have it.”

“Whatever.”

“Oh … Jesus. God.”

“What?”

“… oh, oh …”

“Told you.”

Window

2008-05-07T20:35:28Z

She was shaken from her fitful sleep.

The ground was rumbling again, for the first time in days. Maybe it had been weeks. There was no way to know. The rumbling faded.

She wiped the dusty grime off the window and looked outside, out onto the grey and yellow world. After only a few seconds, she knelt back onto the floor.

There was no point in looking out that window. It’s not like there would be anyone out there, anyway.

The Vomit

2008-05-07T18:39:07Z

Someone vomited in the hallway.

Several people walked right past it and did nothing. Most of those that did notice it acted as if they hadn’t.

At least one of the people who didn’t notice it stepped in it.

Three people, walking through the hallway together, saw it and gathered around it. They discussed various aspects of the vomit: the possible origins of it, why it had occurred, what to do about it.

These three people decided that they would do nothing about it. They also decided they would tell nobody that they had seen it and decided not to act. They formed an informal pact to hide their secret.

One person saw it, and as a result, vomited a few minutes later. They did not tell anyone.

Someone noticed it and expressed their disgust at both the act and the product of that act. Finally, this person decided to call maintenance and have it cleaned up.

When he got home that evening, the janitor that cleaned it up did not tell anyone that he had cleaned up vomit at work today.

Mr. Max's Marvelous Machine

2008-05-07T15:10:50Z

Little LeRoy LaMarque bolted out the back door into the yard. He placed the box with the machine in it in the middle of the yard, on the dewy grass. The bloody handprints on the box were still wet.

The box smelled bad. It smelled awful, actually. Much worse than it should. It was as if the machine was decomposing at a much faster rate than it should be expected to.

The dog started howling inside the house. This worried Little LeRoy, because the dog shouldn’t be howling anymore. It shouldn’t be doing anything.

And if the dog could be howling, then it was possible that Mr. Max might start howling, too. Or he might start doing something else entirely, something worse. Something that Little LeRoy didn’t want him to do.

Little LeRoy would have to go back inside.

The Liberation of Hank

2008-05-07T14:59:14Z

Hank stands in front of a garbage can in the park. He has pooped in the garbage can. He did not know he could do this until he did it. He is no longer shackled by the laws of a polite society.