I’d come to get you. The fiberglass dinosaurs roared
silently over the mini-golf course across the street,
and you were almost just as quiet by the pool,
half empty in the middle of winter. You went on
about one of those cat clocks ticking its tail back
and forth over your bed. Spoke about it
like there was a murder weapon stashed inside
its plastic guts, something that really bludgeoned
the crows’ feet into the corners of your eyes.
I mostly looked at the fiberglass raptor, laughed
about you tapping cigarette ashes in the
pool. Chlorinated tobacco, you said. It was stupid.
The shape it made on the water,
it kinda looked like a cat.
Caleb Bethea is the author of DISCO MURDER CITY (Maudlin House ‘25) and Fever Clowns (Anxiety Press, ‘26). Their horror stories have recently been anthologized in Found 2, Encounters, and Brave New Weird. You can also find their work in HAD, X-R-A-Y, hex, Bruiser, ergot, Vlad Mag, and elsewhere. They live in the forest with their wife and four goblins. Say hello on Instagram: @caleb_bethea_
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