Reality by William Land
I'm sitting up now.
My back is up against the headboard.
The A/C reeks of stale cereal.
The television atop the computer table casts silhouettes of my bedroom furniture.
The windows reflect a distorted image of the screen –
I was watching one of those reality shows.
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A hairy middle-aged man complains about the other inhabitants on the island.
He outlines the torture he endures to not be voted off the show.
How royally pathetic.
His ego appalls me.
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I'll miss the days.
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I change the channel – mostly in annoyance to its repetition.
The 11 o'clock news is on.
The newsman exhibits the perfect appearance.
He's handsome, with flawless silver hair.
The ticker scrolls stories of business failures and devastating stock falls.
The world endures an apparent economic crisis.
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I'll miss the days.
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The mirror on my dresser reflects my image.
My appearance briefly catches my eye.
My face looks like a ghost with the TV's endless supply of pale-blue lighting.
I look drained.
The glow makes me look fifteen pounds lighter.
And I'm already too skinny.
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I'll miss the days.
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I don't know what's worse –
My evident lack of meat, or the washout of enterprises globally.
Personally – I'm leaning toward my appearance.
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A red nova suddenly lights up the room.
My eyes immediately focus back to the newscast.
The green-cyan newsroom was no longer visible.
The camera flared as it captured images of a fireball exploding over what looked like a scene from Disney's Aladdin
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I'll miss the days.
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Smoke billows from inside the Middle Eastern community, under-lit by an orange-red fire.
The smoke isn't thin and vaporous like you'd see in the movies.
Dark clouds erupt from the town now swallowed by fire.
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The newsperson relays inaudible information about the explosion.
He sounds like he's on a radio from a seventies film.
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But this is nothing like a movie –
No antagonist, no scapegoat.
When a person dies in cinema, we're numb to the violence –
We're even briefly entertained by it.
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I'll miss the days.
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I'll miss the days when I didn't look like a poltergeist.
I'll miss the days where money was obsolete.
I'll miss the days when I didn't compare myself to the perfect celebrities.
I'll miss the days when my parents shielded my eyes from the ugliness of the world.
I'll miss the days without problems.
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I was happier with Hollywood reality.
I change the channel again.