Welsh poet and creative writing tutor Rhys Milsom presents the next addition to Flash Fiction Week with Live Lounge Limpidity.
Live Lounge is buzzin. Smelly, like. Sweat an perfume an loads o aftershave an a puke-sweet smell ew ger when a pint o cider’s spilt on top o beer n shots n other shit n it stinks so hard ewer nostrils burn worse an when ew av a bump o coke from some smack-ed’s palm.
I’m still oldin a key I rammed into tha dicked’s eye n I’ve been oldin ir so tight tha there’s blood runnin down my fingers n I look ar it n I carn elp thinkin of red grass-snakes. Ee deserved it o didn ee? All I was up to was askin er for a fag n en I fell n en ees kicin me in uh ribs. I carn jus ler people kick me in. I ope I blinded uh cunt, ee wun be able to kick anyone else in en will ee?
Iss really ard to move around in yuh tonight, fuckin busy n iss full of posho student fucks with eyr George Michael looks goin on, double-denim n ohz angin gay boots eyr all wearin a make em look like tapdancers o sumin. I force my way past a group o kids bu one of em, face like a ripped dap n teeth like a piano, wun move n eez glaring a me like I jus fucked iz mam. I turn to im n bare my teeth like a pitbull n eyr full o blood from a guy kickin me n ee jus sortuh keeps lookin bu focuses on uh bar behind me. Cunt. I grab iz pint from iz greasy paw n spit ini n en down ir all n squirt uh beer back in n give ir back to im. Ee duzn say anythin or do anythin. Just stands eh lookin like a poof with iz tapdancin shoes.
I need a piss, cozza beer from earlier is rinsin my bladder n ah guy probly kicked a lotta uh piss to the end o my dick. I go up uh stairs to the toilets n I’m really appy tha ehrs no fuckin guy tryin to sell me a squirt o Preemark aftershave for uh price of a pint n I lean on one of uh sinks n close my eyes n think abou whether id be worth gerrin money out bu en I think fuck it I’ll pay on my card coz I carn be arsed to go over the road to uh cash machine. I look up into uh mirror n see my eyes swellin up n I go closer n see some water buildin up in my eyes like wen a toilet’s blocked n en suddenly the water comes out o my eyes loads n my eyes burn n sting n en I’m gaspin n carn speak n I go to a cubicle n lock uh door n touch the water on my face n it feels like blood bu iss not.
Live Lounge Limpidity by Rhys Milsom is part of a Wales Arts Review series publishing original flash fiction pieces by some of Wales’ top authors in a celebration of the unique literary genre and National Flash Fiction Day.
