C4 antho - Chamber Four
C4 antho - Chamber Four C4 antho - Chamber Four
~36~ The Chamber Four Fiction Anthology “If you really need to see...” “...” “I’ve got a flashlight in the kitchen,” Mrs. Chicken said. “Swell.” “How about some coffee?” she asked, tucking the sweaty lock behind her ear. The plumber grunted. “Great. That should really teach this toilet a lesson.” “It’s decaf,” Mrs. Chicken whispered, placing a proud hand on her hip. “Christ.” “...” “...” “Is that a yes?” “Lady, what did you throw down there?” “I told you. Nothing. It’s just us. And besides, I don’t know what there is to see, really.” “Shit.” The plumber replied, unscrewing and tossing the LED self-leveling camera into the corner. * * * * Mal’s video begins with a ridge of soft bumps that form the letter M. The camera then backs up until it’s obvious there are teeth on both sides and the hot presence of a tongue. Retreating further, it passes lips and emerges into broad daylight to move up the greasy length of a nose. The lens tickles the tips of eyelashes and stares down an unflinching eyeball. Then Malchicken’s whole face appears, alongside its reflection in a mirror; chin-to-chin, there’s a
Eupcaccia ~37~ tantalizing view up all four nostrils. His face goes through surprise, happiness, anger, confusion, frustration, and contemplation. Look―here’s his mother, a slanted doorway, and a hand goes up to block her face. Out in the living room, there’s a matchstick swizzled in candle wax and a partial fingerprint marring a photograph of a large crowd cheering a car race. The velvet backing the photograph is the darkest black there is. Suddenly there’s a hot flash of fluorescence, followed by an examination of the faceplate of the light switch, its screw heads perfectly vertical. Droplets of moisture define a half-destroyed spider’s web, shown with the light on and then off. On. Off. On. A painful minute focused on the spider’s leg, jerky, electric, disco. A close-up of something sways like a worm, and when the camera pulls back it’s a loose thread from the elastic cuff of Mrs. Chicken’s shirt. The tulip pattern on the fabric. Suddenly the camera is jerked as if hit by something hard; it’s Mrs. Chicken’s rings as her hand wraps over the camera’s head. Mal’s hand peels hers away. The camera tumbles to the ground. The latch of the bathroom door going in and out looks like a darting fish. The cheap gold molding still looks cheap in black and white. Inside the bathroom, there are mineral deposits clinging to the showerhead, the bleached corner of the bathtub where the soap lives and slowly decays, dark patches of grout between linoleum squares from spilt iodine or hair dye. There’s a tangled wad of hair near the corner of the tub where the caulking is riddled with spots of mold. Up near the lunar surface of the ceiling, there’s a vertiginous moment where the self-leveling camera wheels around violently, followed by a millisecond flash of Malchicken’s face, off balance. A crack running along the bottom of a picture frame merges into the etched image of a perfume bottle and its
- Page 3 and 4: The Chamber Four Fiction Anthology
- Page 5 and 6: “Semolinian Equinox,” by Svetla
- Page 7 and 8: uses of copyrighted selections repu
- Page 9 and 10: For the Sake of the Children . . .
- Page 11 and 12: American Subsidiary . . . . . . . .
- Page 13 and 14: The Chamber Four Fiction Anthology
- Page 15 and 16: Liz Phair and the Most Perfect Sent
- Page 17 and 18: Liz Phair and the Most Perfect Sent
- Page 19 and 20: Liz Phair and the Most Perfect Sent
- Page 21 and 22: Liz Phair and the Most Perfect Sent
- Page 23 and 24: Eupcaccia* _________ by Angie Lee f
- Page 25 and 26: Eupcaccia ~25~ mother shuts off the
- Page 27 and 28: Eupcaccia ~27~ bounce with princely
- Page 29 and 30: Eupcaccia ~29~ carving ruts through
- Page 31 and 32: Eupcaccia ~31~ “Sure as heck that
- Page 33 and 34: Eupcaccia ~33~ or else he wasn’t
- Page 35: Eupcaccia ~35~ “This here video c
- Page 39 and 40: Watchers ________ by Scott Cheshire
- Page 41 and 42: Watchers ~41~ and told my mother ab
- Page 43 and 44: Watchers ~43~ husband and teenage c
- Page 45 and 46: Watchers ~45~ Lorraine waits, she s
- Page 47 and 48: Watchers ~47~ students for who know
- Page 49 and 50: Watchers ~49~ toy-men crouching sma
- Page 51 and 52: How to Assemble a Portal to Another
- Page 53 and 54: How to Assemble a Portal to Another
- Page 55 and 56: Seven Little Stories About Sex ____
- Page 57 and 58: Seven Little Stories About Sex ~57~
- Page 59 and 60: Seven Little Stories About Sex ~59~
- Page 61 and 62: Seven Little Stories About Sex ~61~
- Page 63 and 64: Seven Little Stories About Sex ~63~
- Page 65 and 66: Seven Little Stories About Sex ~65~
- Page 67 and 68: Seven Little Stories About Sex ~67~
- Page 69 and 70: Men Alone _________ by Steve Almond
- Page 71 and 72: For the Sake of the Children ~71~ y
- Page 73 and 74: For the Sake of the Children ~73~ P
- Page 75 and 76: For the Sake of the Children ~75~ *
- Page 77 and 78: Semolinian Equinox ________________
- Page 79 and 80: Semolinian Equinox ~79~ with matter
- Page 81 and 82: Semolinian Equinox ~81~ she is esca
- Page 83 and 84: Semolinian Equinox ~83~ “A Bag of
- Page 85 and 86: Semolinian Equinox ~85~ “I didn
~36~ The <strong>Chamber</strong> <strong>Four</strong> Fiction Anthology<br />
“If you really need to see...”<br />
“...”<br />
“I’ve got a flashlight in the kitchen,” Mrs. Chicken said.<br />
“Swell.”<br />
“How about some coffee?” she asked, tucking the sweaty<br />
lock behind her ear.<br />
The plumber grunted. “Great. That should really teach<br />
this toilet a lesson.”<br />
“It’s decaf,” Mrs. Chicken whispered, placing a proud<br />
hand on her hip.<br />
“Christ.”<br />
“...”<br />
“...”<br />
“Is that a yes?”<br />
“Lady, what did you throw down there?”<br />
“I told you. Nothing. It’s just us. And besides, I don’t<br />
know what there is to see, really.”<br />
“Shit.” The plumber replied, unscrewing and tossing the<br />
LED self-leveling camera into the corner.<br />
* * * *<br />
Mal’s video begins with a ridge of soft bumps that form<br />
the letter M. The camera then backs up until it’s obvious<br />
there are teeth on both sides and the hot presence of a<br />
tongue. Retreating further, it passes lips and emerges into<br />
broad daylight to move up the greasy length of a nose. The<br />
lens tickles the tips of eyelashes and stares down an unflinching<br />
eyeball. Then Malchicken’s whole face appears,<br />
alongside its reflection in a mirror; chin-to-chin, there’s a
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