Chris Clemens

“Hey, I’m new. Are we supposed to just watch this?”

“Quiet. Stare straight ahead.”

“Sorry.”

“Good, newbie. We’re whispering. Yeah: basically stand at attention until all the flaying and screaming and burning is over. It helps to think about something else, like my grandma. Then we purify the leftovers.”

“Uh. So, okay. Ignore massacre. Clean up.”

“Exactly.”

“Doesn’t seem so bad.”

“Purging? I’ll tell you one thing, newbie: emptying the bonechurner is unpleasant.”

“Maybe. But you know what the job market’s like out there?”

“Bad?”

“Really bad.”

“Think I’ll stick around for the health insurance, then. Grandma’s barely holding on.”

Chris Clemens lives and teaches in Toronto, surrounded by raccoons. His stories have appeared in Invisible City, JAKE, The Dribble Drabble Review, Apex Magazine, and elsewhere.

Read more from Chris:

Hungry Shadow Press – ‘Paid Attention’
Fairfield Scribes – ‘Gorgonsight’