Some deep pit, bottom floor, NSA. Technician_Gary, usually reading the emails of diplomats, heads of state, translating whenever necessary. Which languages does he know? All of them. Technician_Gary, sipping from his soda cup, reading emails. The politics are dull, the espionage moldy. Just more to read.
At home, Technician_Gary in his LazyBoy, broken-spine paperback between his meaty thumbs. What’s he sipping now, YooHoo? He’s got a fridge full of it. Liking the taste of mercury, wishing he wrote books.
Some deep pit, bottom floor, requested by Technician_Gary and no one else said no. Clocked-in for the NSA, trying to convince himself Amy Tan could be a terrorist. A mix of Sprite and YooHoo in his cup, thinking about his mother’s book-club reading Amy’s latest book. He prefers thrillers, but Mother, going on about Amy. He prefers Sprite and YooHoo.
Amy, a terrorist because she lives in California. Those wacky Californians. Always up to something. Accessing her emails, certain of the law. Correspondences with her publisher. Her latest manuscript. Is it any good? Technician_Gary, frowning as he scrolls through the pages.
Dean Koontz lives in California too. Could he be a terrorist? It might be so. Nothing in his e-mails. Special forms are needed, hacking, but, his hard-drive could be accessed.
Thirty seconds later.
Technician_Gary and Dean, sharing a computer. There hadn’t been time for special forms, approval from outside of the some deep pit, bottom floor, NSA. Dean could have been up to no good at any moment.
And finding Dean’s latest draft.
Frowning.
Frowning.
YooHoo and Sprite.
Frowning.
Heartbreak.
Mouthing each word of the draft as he reads. Why does such a proficient reader move his lips like that? He appreciates a good workout. But Dean’s and Amy’s manuscripts, the horrors, the solutions. How could this be so? Something in the Sprite and YooHoo? No. Technician_Gary’s brain, flopping over a new leaf.
Some deep pit, bottom floor, Technician_Gary’s heart. Still breaking.
And he, wishing he wrote novels, thinking how to sew the two stories together. Dean Tan or Amy Koontz. Amy Koontz, sounding better in some ways, worse in others.
Patrick Donovan lives near a swamp and studies writing at UL Lafayette where he is a fiction editor at Rougarou. His work has previously appeared in decomP magazinE, Chrome Baby, Intellectual Refuge, and others.
–Art by Ashley Holloway
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