Avalon Bombshell

Episode 13: At the Edge of the Wasteland

Alas, Poor Darwin...

We bomb through Vegas
at what feels like
lightspeed.

(and holy crap –
I've never seen
a place in real life

that looks so much
like something outta
Tales After The Bomb!)

garish casinos &
rundown hotels
rising up from

the wasteland -

like monoliths
from some long forgotten
kingdom;

(steady on, stiff upper lip,
Rule Britannia, Chariots
of Fire, etc...)

pyramids, castles,
coliseums –

eerie ghosts
through driving sands
calling out to
starving pilgrims.

We don't stop.
& we certainly don't
slow down.

That is -
until we hear
the noise.

We've just made it past
the Vegas Strip when
we first hear it:

you know the kinda
noise I'm talking about:

you hear it every once
in a while sputtering
from some junkyard jalopy,

the unmistakable sound
of an automobile's
death rattle.

"Aw crap," I say,
turning to Pea,

"not again!
Is it the wheel?"

The sun begins to dip
below the sky.

"Nope." Pea replies. This could either be a really good or really bad sign...

"We should probably get off the road."
& so that's exactly what we do.

We're just on the edge of Death Valley –

the wasteland.

...so she gets no argument
from me.

Pea slides Darwin to a halt (again), opens her door, and marches over to the hood. She flings it open. Something is smoking near the engine.

Definitely not good.

& suddenly our quest
seems even further away
than before.

(a miracle would be
really helpful
right about now...)

'Till Morning: Histories #11: The Fitz(es)

I thought I knew
something about miracles...

- apparently,
I am one -

the story goes:

before my folks
moved to America
to seek their fortunes –

they got married

&
had a baby
(me.)

happy,
normal,
healthy

-

& then
one day,

not.

couldn't eat,
couldn't sit up,

muscles...

tightening

& the screams!

Mum held my hand
at the hospital
for weeks & weeks & weeks,

never leaving my side,
watching branches scrape
the window

& beyond,
a statue:

of the boy who
never grew up;

Mum wondered