The Party

He told me his name was Bud; Bud Light.
He said he knew some friends of mine.
I knew he lied, since I don't have any friends.

I closed my eyes and imagined I was somewhere hot and sandy,
And when I opened them I was somewhere hot and sandy.
There were so many flies that I closed my eyes again to stop them crawling on my face.

Bud said there were others, but their voices were distant, like the voices in a dream where you try to wake up because you think something bad's going to happen, but you can't because you secretly want to find out how bad is bad.

I waited with my eyes closed, listening to the voices, and above the voices the vultures called, wheeling and crying.

I asked Bud what we were waiting for and he just laughed and walked away.
I think I'll go home now, I called after him, but he carried on walking.

I must have fallen asleep, sitting there in the hot sand. I don't know how long but it was dark when I woke up thirsty.

I asked Bud for some water, and he shook his head.
I said this isn't such a great party after all, Bud.

So Bud shoved my face into the dirt, with one knee on my back and his big hands gripping the back of my head until my lungs filled with dust and my nose crushed against the ground, and the distant voices stopped.