Skeleton Skulls

The fourth and final Neverglades spoof story, written using the generative text programs from botnik.org.

Story
Smoldering newspapers had been crumpled like a cigarette. Marconi was standing outside the precinct, a bitterness in her voice. “Rory's the darkness, then,” she said. “There’s a lot of smoke billowing from his body.” I couldn't hurt anyone more than she did. The Inspector was holding a yellow substance in his fedora and passing it to Whedon himself. I could barely describe my pain.

“Inspector,” I said, grabbing my jacket. “There wasn't much I could do.” He remained silent, somehow wearing his trench coat with a crackle. I could imagine him without it, oblivious to the massacre of the greenhouse floor.

Janine shifted the papers on her thigh. “Eventually you have to accept that he was capable of starvation,” she said. “There’s a man in there, folks.” I shook my head and sighed. His grayish skin looked like someone had thrown flashes of smoke until he became like the skeleton.

Sometimes I asked the Inspector, unconvinced, if he could feel pain. He kept wringing his cigar. I knew Marconi was getting antsy. Red streaks of her cruiser zipped around the corner, brushing the ground. She had managed to find meaning in this whole mess. I circled the door frame with a little bit of loathing. It wasn’t about me.

Downstairs, I flicked the radio stations on. The wires were vibrating through the ceiling. I watched them kill the light. Something dark had come from outside and I was afraid to be listening. Whatever eldritch beast I thought I saw, I was thankful for the Kevlar.

The Inspector’s skull was leaking through his fedora. He wasn't going to wake up in the Neverglades. I turned around and tried to smile somehow, but the shelves were boarded up and the boys were relocated. Sweat had taken Ruth and even the radio. I was still staring down at the screen: memories of my family trailed from the walls like a film, so quiet and so still. I had never been a good host.

Characters

 * Mark Hannigan
 * The Inspector
 * Olivia Marconi
 * Rory Hannigan
 * John Whedon
 * Janine Zimmerman
 * Ruth Hannigan