Living Things

Instance 1: Livid Things

“I’m writing a story called ‘Livid Things.’”

She smiled, “Oh, yes?”

“Yes,” he pressed on, “It’s about things that are livid.”

“Really.”

“Yeah, you know it’s interesting, but lobsters are livid both before and after they are cooked—their color, you know.”

“Um,” she pushed her glasses further up her nose and looked at her screen, “no, I didn’t know that.”

“We should get together sometime, after work,” Huffy said, immediately cringing inwardly at his own awkwardness. “Maybe,” he added.

Princess moved her head somewhere in between a nod and a shake, trying to be as noncommittal as possible. She looked as though Huffy had asked her to give him a rectal examination as she replied, “Oh, yeah, definitely. Sometime, sure.”

“Okay, great then. Fine,” said Huffy as he bolted towards the backdoor. He’d never seen that look on Princess’s face before, and he hoped never to again. “Super,” he said under his breath as he trotted towards his car.