Saturday Morning Funnies (Vol. 7)

This is another silly attempt from my college years. For a long time I collected bits and pieces like this, which had promising starts but no ending in sight. It took me a long time to figure out how to finish anything I started.

Skeletal shadows flitted across the white plaster ceiling. Illuminated by the light of the full moon, the dark lines made a cross-hatch pattern. Colleen sighed. She'd stopped trying to make sense out of them over an hour ago. Colleen rolled over in the strange bed and tried to fall asleep. The squeak of the springs even seemed to shared that hard, nasal accent that everyone had here in "Bally-go-backwards."

Glowing red numbers on her cousin's digital clock reminded her that the night wasn't getting any longer and she needed to get some sleep. She couldn't afford to have her brain addled, otherwise she'd never be able to keep track of all the lies. Her mother's sister's family were happy to have her stay for now, but if they knew they were sheltering a dyke on the lamb, who knew what hell would break loose. They didn't need the extra trouble, not with auntie so sick.

If only she hadn't spent all her money at the Dublin bars, Colleen thought, rolling over again. She'd been surprised there were gay bars at all in Ireland. Someone at the bar had even told her that Sein Finn had a gay and lesbian coalition. Wouldn't information like that make Mom's head spin? Imagining her mom's face when she told her made Colleen chuckle.

A woman's shriek pierced Colleen's reverie. She sat upright in the bed and listened intently. The terrible scream came again. Leaping to the window, Colleen heaved open the window.