{"id":8024,"date":"2019-01-22T15:06:05","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T22:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jerseydevilpress.com\/?page_id=8024"},"modified":"2019-01-22T15:06:05","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T22:06:05","slug":"life-in-the-sky-circa-1998","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.jerseydevilpress.com\/?page_id=8024","title":{"rendered":"Life in the Sky Circa 1998"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dominic Stabile<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re up here bakin\u2019,\u201d Les said to the man pissing on the back of his parents\u2019 house. The man looked up, squinted at the two boys peeking down from the roof. We had crawled out Les\u2019 second floor window, hoping for privacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cNice to meet you, Bacon,\u201d the man said. He zipped his fly and went back into the house.<\/p>\n

We laughed and scooted to the wall. The window yawned above us, the noise of the party like distant radio chatter. Truly, it was more humid than hot. The shingles were slick with dew.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou talked to that girl?\u201d Les asked.<\/p>\n

Every time he asked, it was like a knot loosened in my stomach. No one but Les ever asked about her.<\/p>\n

I shook my head.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to say something to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I start to, I feel sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Les sucked his teeth and said, \u201cYou just have to do it.\u201d His voice never<\/em> shook when he said things like that, a thing I envied about him.<\/p>\n

We stared across the narrow yard. The dogwood tree and the dead garden were shadows in the orange fog.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could talk to her for you,\u201d he said, and I looked at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, his voice was steady<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause you don\u2019t know her,\u201d I said. \u201cAnd I wouldn\u2019t know what to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

He got up and paced toward the edge of the roof. He spat into the yard. His hands were in his pockets, and he stood in a cool way I could never manage — feet splayed out, shoulders rolled forward.<\/p>\n

It took a moment for me to realize he\u2019d pulled his phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalling Dej. He\u2019s got her number.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy does Dej have her number?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

I got up and started toward him. My foot slipped on the wet shingles, but I steadied myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive it to me,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

I reached for the phone and he jerked away from me, stepping closer to the edge of the roof.<\/p>\n

I pulled back and said, \u201cWatch the edge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s up, Dej?\u201d he said into the phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive it to me,\u201d I repeated, reaching out again.<\/p>\n

He swung back with an elbow, just missing my jaw. \u201cHold up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease, Les,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Les turned and looked at me. His features slackened in a familiar way. I wanted his sympathy, not a girlfriend. But it always made me feel like shit when he took pity on me. Pity was more demeaning than sympathy.<\/p>\n

He lowered the phone and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word out, a three-dimensional triangle the size of a microwave floated out through his window and hovered between us. Its translucent, black exterior caught the afternoon light like a dark marble.<\/p>\n

Les looked at me and sucked his teeth like I was playing a joke on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to go,\u201d he said into the phone and hung up. He put the phone in his pocket. He looked at his shoes and shook his head. After laughing to himself, he looked up at me. Purplish light from the triangle painted his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

Les sucked his teeth again, shaking his head. He stared at me.<\/p>\n

The object began to hum, and the purple light brightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeriously, what is it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

Les turned away and looked out over his yard. The fog had begun to thin. The dogwood tree had come into view, and I could make out the dead tomato plants hanging from stakes in the garden.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DOMINIC STABILE<\/strong>‘s bizarre fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, including\u00a0Sanitarium Magazine, Atticus Review,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Fossil Lake III: Unicornado<\/em>. He is a regular contributor to Manor House Productions\u2019 horror podcast, which produces haunting audio dramas. His bizarro-noir book series,\u00a0Stone<\/em>, is published by Sinister Grin Press. Connect with Dominic on social media or at his website, dominicstabile.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dominic Stabile     \u201cWe\u2019re up here bakin\u2019,\u201d Les said to the man pissing on the back of his parents\u2019 house. The man looked up, squinted at the two boys peeking down from the roof. We had crawled out Les\u2019 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":8017,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8024","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P15duy-25q","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jerseydevilpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jerseydevilpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jerseydevilpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jerseydevilpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jerseydevilpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.jerseydevilpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8038,"href":"http:\/\/www.jerseydevilpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8024\/revisions\/8038"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jerseydevilpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jerseydevilpress.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}