Small Places : Nick L Belardes [125 of 128]

• Mulani blinks. Her eyes tear. I hit her below the belt and it hurt. Mulani: "That was years ago. I became a trophy girl after that.
• "He hasn't kissed me since he arrived. I made him sleep on the couch." She is hurting. I'm a jerk.
• Me: "The fantasy doesn't exist, does it?" I head back to my cubicle. Mike has been out to lunch.
• He comes dancing into the scene. "Who's the talking fur ball?" he says. Mike: "You've got Renaldo beat."
• Me: "How so?" Mike: "I don't think he even remembers Mulani's name."
• That night I slip back into the bagworm dream. There's Mrs. Bigmoth standing on the farmer's table in defiance.
• As you recall, a boom shook Mrs. Bagworm from a forest tree where the bagworm community thrives. She found her way to the source...
• The dream seems more distant than before. Viewed from a tunnel. Colors dim to greyscale. A forest of green becomes shadows and echoes.
• "I can't," says the farmer. "There are other creatures far more threatening than bagworms. They eat all the corn. I must scare them away."