facing his back, and spooning him. She took her underwear off, draped her leg around him, and fell asleep. They had a nap. When she woke, he had turned and was facing her, and the matching heavy, red velvet drapes were still drawn, so it was like night. He leaned in to kiss her, and she started to writhe around. She let her dress go up. She had kept shaving her peach. He looked at it a long time, then started kissing it. When he started licking it, she lost control; s

though she had no papers to prove it, she clearly looked like an Indian, so they let her cross the border. They were used to that. She rented the first apartment that had a sign in the window. He was only too happy to, since it had been empty for months. She applied for welfare, and used the money for rent and food. She told them the truth, and they believed her. Why wouldn’t they. All she had in her apartment were plants, the clothes he gave her, her papers, and a bi

Louise Mary Badd checked out of life. Maybe, it was the roller-coaster, the popcorn incident, the home birth, the hospital crying, or she didn’t like being alone; maybe it was just a crib-death, but she died. China always figured the baby knew he didn’t want her. China hated him for that. He made her adhere to the routine as soon as they got home. She cooked supper, sat with him while he ate, fed the baby, and cleaned up; she barely arrived with his popcorn in time. She

baby care, so she would know everything about taking care of a baby. Moreover, he was getting the idea that this was a problem for him too. She had collected the bottles, nipples, diapers, and rubber pants, so was ready for the baby. She was in the garden when her water broke. She thought she peed her pants. That was weird, so she changed, but soon thereafter, a pain started. She tended to the bonsai, fed the fish, meditated, read, cleaned, and cooked through it. The pa

the house, he got up and pointed. He preferred she didn’t go snooping around. For some reason, he didn’t like pork, so she substituted lamb for pork. She found out he didn’t eat pork when he threw a bowl of popcorn at her. They were on the couch, she had just done the dishes, and sat down beside him with that bowl of popcorn. It was precisely seven that she woke him. It was earlier on, so he was still talking to her, and she asked him if he liked the supper. She though

braced herself for the pain. She soared out over the glittering water, plopped into it, and nobody even saw her. It would just be the empty cart that rolled back in. Would he even remember that she was in it. He didn’t, and he didn’t care either. Might as well see stuff. They just walked around while they waited for her catch up to them. She was in big trouble Dan seethed to himself. She was like a dog off it’s leash. China sunk to the bottom. She had never been in

It took her over a year to get pregnant, and in that time, she learned to cook. China found a cookbook in the box but kept it under the deck. She cooked quiches, roasts, casseroles, and desserts. He never gave her trouble about getting the ingredients but he wouldn’t buy anything for the coming baby. She could tell he was happy, because he started to talk to her again, and he was getting fat too. She didn’t dare bring it up, even though he commented on her weight all the

The Zen Garden helped. She was obsessive compulsive about the painting; it relieved stress, so she did it in the garden, during the day, when he wasn’t around. He used to have to take care of the garden, but not now, as he had her, so she painted in the garden. He never went in it anymore, and he wouldn’t go get anything, so she used pots from the garage. China repaired, painted, and planted in them with stuff she found. She rooted the geraniums and saved the seeds of th

He watched as she did somersaults as she fell. She felt every jagged edge, but the pain was especially strong in her arm and foot. The fall had opened her foot back up, and broke her arm. At the bottom of the stairs, she just laid there. He thought she was dead. There was blood everywhere. Dan rushed down the stairs, and to her side. Her eyes fluttered open when he touched her. He was so relieved. ‘…I love you…I’m so sorry…this will never happen again…I love you so m

The place was a mess. The moist, wrinkled cranberries were stuck where they landed. Some were even on the fridge. She thought of his member, shivered, then jumped up, and ran down the hall in bare feet. She winced in more pain, this time from her foot. One of the glass bowls had broken. In the bathroom, she found bandages and put them on her foot. She looked in the mirror and recoiled. Her face was a chaos of bruises, blood, and swelling. She dabbed at it with a wet

He let them in through the gate, then picked her up to carry her across the threshold. The house went on and on. He followed a path of petals while talking to her, ‘…I built this house myself…’ then put her gently down on the bed, ‘…and designed it…’ She looked around. There were pictures of naked women on all four walls, a floor-to-ceiling window, and a huge closet. The closet door was open and stuffed with his clothes. It was messy. Actually, the whole bedroom was me

facility. Her daughter put her in the cheapest one she could find, and it didn’t matter that it was located in a city that was miles away, as she wouldn’t be going to visit her anyway. Cora had money, but it didn’t matter, as there was probably no happy ending there. Carin and Colleen had moved in together long ago, so at least they had each other, and were probably living happily ever after. There wasn’t anything wrong with them anyway. They stopped all medication the d

for him to be in a good mood or even come back. She grew lots using the same disposable cups. She read about it, so she made light yellow, medium yellow, really yellow yellow, and orange. She got curious. She made reds and blues out of beets and blueberries. Carole never stole anything she thought was garbage. China mixed the powders and got other colours. She picked up a stone during mandatory fresh air, scraped it on the cement foundation, then crushed it to a pow

was a lot of love in their room to counter act the weird night man, and Carole stealing her plants, but there was Cora, who was talking to Carin and Colleen now, and even Carolyn dying was a type of love. Then it followed that the weird night man, and Carole stealing, were love too. They were predictable, therefore she felt loved, therefore she felt in control, even in charge sometimes. After all, she was the object of their affection. One time, one of the hall people wand

came twice a week, brought her candies, and talked to her snotty. Carolyn was dying; what a place to die. They gave her bags of blood and put compression stockings on her. It was expensive. China knew Carolyn was dying because she listened to the doctors that came. ‘…do you still want food...water…blood…medicine…oxygen..’ Carolyn said yes to them all. She didn’t want to die. They gave her bags of blood in the middle of the night, hooking it up, and forgetting about it,

that either, but she couldn’t relax. She stayed up all night. Finally, the man sneaked in and then just stared at her a long time before leaving. She didn’t know who it was. As soon as he left, Carole came in and looked at her stuff. Cora wasn’t lying. ‘…well…’ she said out loud, ‘…looking never hurt no-one…’ The trouble started when Carole went ahead and moved stuff. At first, she just touched stuff, but then she started moving it toward her side, on the sill, a quart

‘…no..no..it’s not an emergency…I don’t…hello….hello…I don’t have piece of paper…I’m in the loony … hospital…hello…hello…send…hello…I want to report a stolen vehicle…no…I can’t find a pen and paper … I’m at the same place I was before…I can’t walk…send…hello...hello…my daughter stole my car… you need to arrest her and put her in jail…hello…hello… she is my P.A…. but wait …hello … hello… I’m not gonna have her as my P.A. anymore …hello….what’s process to change your P.A….but

business hours…’ Cora developed the habit of talking to her every night. She knew after Carole left; the lights would go out soon. It got so Carole would leave of her own accord, going out in the hall; Cora didn’t even have to kick her out. Carole read, did word searches, or talked to other ‘hall people,’ as the light was kept on all night. China knew her whole life story, as she told it to the hall people over and over again. Either they were too polite to say anything

Nobody believed a psych patient, so they just had to make the best of it. In some ways, the four-year-old was more mature than the adults, but in some ways she wasn’t. Carin and Colleen were in the beds, closest to the door, on either side. They knew they were friends, did everything together, and planned to live together when they got out, but what they didn’t know, was that they were lovers. During the day, they went to mandatory recreation and fresh air together, but th

They called her China Cat and it was a good name because she had at least nine lives. It could have been her long black shiny hair or slight build. Maybe it was her name, because of her perfect dark skin or her slanted eyes; who knew. She was born in the USA and it was the sixties so they still had institutions, and since she was indigenous, they were only too willing to accept her into one of them. Heaven was one of those places. They selected it because they liked the