Month: February 2025

What’s the temperature, Kenneth? Rivi texts me. 12 degrees right now, I text back. With a wind chill of -11. Her typing indicator winks an ellipses at me for what feels like thirty seconds, then pauses, then goes again for another thirty. Finally, her message pops up on the screen: Fuck. Still looking forward to moving? I ask. I am going to die, she says. You won’t die. You’ll just have to get a good jacket. And gloves. And a hat. And a scarf. And long underwear. I’ll be dead and frozen in a block of ice like Encino Man. Jesus, Rivi.…

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“The power’s out,” Rivi says, on the other end of the phone line. “My madness is beginning to set in.” “Your madness set in years ago,” I say. “That ship has sailed, hit an iceberg, sunk, and was swallowed by a sea monster way before today.” “Don’t make fun of me,” she says. “I’m a delicate flower right now.” “I apologize. Sincerely. With much sorriness. So much of it. Maybe you should call the electric company while your phone still has a charge, instead of wasting it talking to me.” “You’re the one who lives in the woods, Sebastian,” Rivi…

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