Some Kind of Tiger

When Sabroso awoke from his Nyquil- and Jim Beam-induced siesta, some kind of large furry animal with a black nose was staring at him and was in fact breathing on him. The animal was that close.

"What the hell? Are you some kind of tiger or somethin'?" Sabroso asked the creature. The creature shook his head.

When Sabroso was eight or nine Uncle Tambien took him to the San Antonio zoo. The giraffes were Sabroso's favorite. They seemed so clean and affable. The giraffes didn't do gross shit like the monkeys and they didn't seem like they wanted to eat him.

"Look. I need to stay alive a few seconds longer," Sabroso told the animal. The walls of the studio apartment melted. Sabroso found himself in a magical candy land. He was still Sabroso and the tiger (or whatever the hell it was) was still Anonymous. Beyond the two living creatures a minor soda waterfall bubbled and gurgled and a sprinkled donut casa gleamed electric pink and orange in the taffy sun. Sabroso walked toward the donut casa and Anonymous walked in the opposite direction.

"Shit just got cool," Sabroso said, licking frosting from his fingers.