Instalment One Hundred and Fifty Seven

She had to break up with Apostrophe, he was too possessive. And so Full Stop put an end to their relationship, it was over, period.

“You always do this, don’t you know?” her girlfriend Question asked. 

“Don’t you see how you are always looking for the smallest fault to use as a reason to escape from all these guys?”

“You said it yourself last time, you said “I can’t keep finding an excuse to finish things off,” that’s what you said,” declared Quote.

Their Sunday brunches were always like this.

Which is why they were so taken back when Full Stop got back together with Exclamation, who she had dumped a year ago.

“This is not like you at all, are you feeling okay?”

“Don’t you remember telling us you were “tired of all the surprises”?”

They were right in their incessant interrogations and recitations, it never lasted, she killed it off quick smart.

But then she found one, one she couldn’t quite find a way to bring to an end. He wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“You’re in love right?”

“You said I could be Maid of Honour, you promised.”

Full Stop and Ellipsis just were too alike...

Instalment One Hundred and Fifty Six

Your vote will be determined for you, based on your answers.
I would rather watch an action movie than a romantic comedy.
Strongly Disagree. Disagree. Neutral. Agree. Strongly Agree.

100s of questions flashing past. Democracy failed. People couldn’t be bothered learning about issues and started ‘going with their gut.’ Votes followed whoever scared the public the most recently. So you could no longer vote for who you wanted to vote for, your answers voted for you. Answers chose who you’d vote for better than you would.

I like to be surrounded by people.
Strongly Disagree. Disagree. Neutral. Agree. Strongly Agree.

People were outraged, but given the opportunity to vote against it, their answers showed deep down they were happy to shrug off their responsibility of choice. So they did. The test didn’t even tell you your result.

“I strongly agree that I seldom worry about things beyond my control.  Do you?” Candidates soon realised even they wouldn’t vote for themselves and they might be campaigning for the other guy. All election advertising stopped.

I often phone friends just for a chat.

Personality beat Substance in a landslide everytime, and was a foolish and callow leader. The answer to our answers.

Instalment One Hundred and Fifty Five

“If you thought about eating meat for too long you’d stop doing it!” her father joked from the barbecue. It was a family tradition going back years, the getting together and the dad joke.

But this time she thought about it, she thought about it for however long too long is. And she stopped eating meat.

So she thought about other things until she had thought about them for however long too long is. In case there were more things to stop doing.

There were.

She thought about cars for too long and never got in one again. Too dangerous.

But you can’t think about things for too long for too long.

Because the next thing she thought about for too long was friends. Friends from school, friends she spent every waking hour with but now couldn’t even find on Facebook. They’d not even met up like they agreed after hearing that Pulp song. Time’s gentle breeze had blown until they drifted apart. Friendships were sorrowful, she thought, so she stopped.

Then she thought about thinking about things for however long too long is for however long too long is. 

So she stopped thinking. Only then did Ignorance find bliss.

Instalment One Hundred and Fifty Four

Always get me in a full night’s sleep. Heard that preacher once say how you is when you die is how you is in Heaven and I'll be damned ‘fore I spend all of eternity beat as a badger.

 - Surely you can take a catnap in Heaven, it’d be plum Hell if you caint.
Didn’t hear no tell from the preacher bout napping but sure as tarnation he don’t allow it church.
 - If what you say is so then I hope I die as half way through my second glass of beer of an afternoon. If I went and died after suppin' just one beer I would spend for all time wantin’ a second. And well if they don’t allow naps they sure as heck won’t allow me a second beer. And if I died two beers deep, you just know I’d be all full of gas. And can you imagine me burpin’ up there, I’d rather die right now. But if I got to die after one and a half beers, well I’d be nice and giddy, just how I like, forever more.
Tired and Drunk boozed till dawn like they’d live forever, which they did not.

Instalment One Hundred and Fifty Three

It was the kind of a day that made people want to do better.

Be better.

It had come from nowhere, predicted by none of the weather seers. What was meant to be a frosty early spring day had been trumped by a balmy tropical beach honeymoon afternoon that escaped to the city for a change of scenery.

A gift of a day.

Each person warmed by the rays or refreshed by the breeze knew they were lucky to receive the unseasonal gift. They sucked in a deep breath and thought to themselves, “I need to be the kind of person that deserves a day like this. I’ve got to try harder.”
Unseasonable.
The shy of work swore they would knuckle down, get a job and save some money. Starting tomorrow.

Students begged teachers for class on the oval.

Office drones updated resumes.
CEOs gazed out floor to ceiling windows across their city promising themselves they would try and take the kids out on the boat this weekend.
It was a day bought and paid for by Promise, who lived to produce such gifts for people. Beautiful boxes topped with bows. Empty boxes of course, that you must fill yourself.