Blue blouses were her thing, some of them with buttons, others straight tees, but all of them blue. Okay, maybe they weren’t exactly her thing. It was more her uniform, the one they made her wear each day to serve food. But I didn’t think of it like that. I thought she looked beautiful in blue, and since she always wore it, to me it became her thing. I didn’t think the other cafeteria workers’ things were their blue shirts. I didn’t think much about them, actually. I just thought it was my girl’s thing, the blue shirt. The first time I saw her away from work, I barely recognized her. She wasn’t wearing blue. My world shook.

***

What do you think of multi-colored walls? They’re better than monochromatic ones, I guess. You guess? Do you think this was a quiz? I want your honest opinion. You’re talking about your walls, right? Yup. Then they’re beautiful. You have great taste. I know that, but what do you think of the colors? This is a trick question. All my questions are trick questions. What do you think? Blinding? Thought so. Worst color choice, ever? I got it the first time. I just wanted to make sure.

***

Try as I might there was nothing I wanted to do that wasn’t done already. It all came down to the place of doing it. The tables lined up in lines, which how things should line up, if you know what I mean. I throw words out to be words. I’m not an organized thinker. I’m too creative for that. (So says the cry of the unorganized, uncreative ones.) Sounds like you know what you’re talking about. I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about, that’s my problem, that’s always been my problem.

***

Terror is where I want to sit and wait and work. There is nothing that is not worth a scary moment. Times for me to do what I need to do outweigh those that don’t.

I’m throwing it all out there. There is something about this that excites me.

His face was thin, the skin sunk into his skull, with his eyes falling to the lowest point. His stare was intense. He stuttered at times when he spoke, and he spoke often, always looking for the best way to analyze the situation. When he hit upon it—and he always did, he was incredibly insightful and creative—he smirked. His face never looked more like a skeleton than when he smirked.

Red walls up to my eyes. My ears popped.

Nothing is throwaway. Everything is throwaway. What a great word throwaway is.

***

You look beautiful tonight. It’s nice when you notice. I always notice but I don’t always say something. Say it again. What? You know what. That I had chicken for lunch—it was a good chicken. No, tell me. That you look beautiful today? Are you asking or telling me? I’m telling. Then tell it! Now you’re just fishing. Always. Okay, beautiful lady, let’s get to dinner before I starve. Such the charmer, always thinking of your rumbling stomach. You make me sound so mercenarily. Is that even a word?

***

Her soul was dirty. It was long and stringy, reaching from just beneath her neck down to her ankles. It swayed gently when she walked, anchored in the middle of her stomach. Its outmost colors changed based on her mood, but the deeper colors, the ones that formed along the soul’s edges and within its gauzy material, remained a mostly orange tinge. These colors changed rarely, intensifying or weakening slowly over time. She was a good person, a bit young in the cycle, but generally good. She had a lot to learn, but she was on the right path. Give her a few more generations, and her soul should turn ruddy red.

***

The antenna flashed a red warning beacon. Few planes flew over the desolate hills, but the radio station had followed the letter if not the spirit of the law.

Step, swooshed leg, shaken butt, skin expanse opened, closed. Tight red shirt, tighter blue jeans, white badge smacked on her chest. Who was this woman walking the rug?

Plan before you program. Know what you want to enable, the world you want to create—throw down the arc of scenes, the archetypes of characters. Swear that this is what you want to create, profess undying love, then create and watch everything change. Live in the world and enjoy your moments.