People
︎︎︎ Myles Zavelo
︎ MAR 24, 2022
I’m reading an absolutely insane article.
People.
It’s about a very beautiful girl.
Actually, she’s the most beautiful girl in her hometown.
It’s a small town in Florida.
At the supermarket, men notice her.
On the beach, men notice her.
In her dreams, men notice her.
Her face is extremely pretty.
Her approximation of denim cutoffs––don't get me started.
Her beautiful hair is always everywhere.
She's a deeply, sincerely adventurous blonde who loves her boyfriend very, very much.
But her boyfriend is a player who plays her maliciously.
At seventeen, he’s already a sex addict.
He uses pornography as a coping mechanism.
He’s such a villain, the biggest one in the world.
When she catches him cheating, she’s devastated.
Beyond crushed.
That night, she paces around the house, shedding great globular tears.
Her parents are celebrating their eighteenth wedding anniversary.
They’re dining at a new Portuguese restaurant on the edge of town.
She finds herself perched on the limits of her parents' bed.
The barrel of her father’s shotgun points back to her.
Think you know what happens next.
Three years later, she’s the youngest recipient of a face transplant.
I’m an orderly at that hospital.
One day, I’m randomly assigned to make sure her room is neat and tidy.
Before you can say knife, she says to me, “You have no idea what I’ve been through.”
Then, my mother calls me for dinner, and I put the magazine down.
People.
It’s about a very beautiful girl.
Actually, she’s the most beautiful girl in her hometown.
It’s a small town in Florida.
At the supermarket, men notice her.
On the beach, men notice her.
In her dreams, men notice her.
Her face is extremely pretty.
Her approximation of denim cutoffs––don't get me started.
Her beautiful hair is always everywhere.
She's a deeply, sincerely adventurous blonde who loves her boyfriend very, very much.
But her boyfriend is a player who plays her maliciously.
At seventeen, he’s already a sex addict.
He uses pornography as a coping mechanism.
He’s such a villain, the biggest one in the world.
When she catches him cheating, she’s devastated.
Beyond crushed.
That night, she paces around the house, shedding great globular tears.
Her parents are celebrating their eighteenth wedding anniversary.
They’re dining at a new Portuguese restaurant on the edge of town.
She finds herself perched on the limits of her parents' bed.
The barrel of her father’s shotgun points back to her.
Think you know what happens next.
Three years later, she’s the youngest recipient of a face transplant.
I’m an orderly at that hospital.
One day, I’m randomly assigned to make sure her room is neat and tidy.
Before you can say knife, she says to me, “You have no idea what I’ve been through.”
Then, my mother calls me for dinner, and I put the magazine down.
Myles Zavelo’s writing has appeared or is forthcoming in the following publications: The Alaska Quarterly Review, The Harvard Advocate, New York Tyrant Magazine, The Southampton Review, Maudlin House, Queen Mob's Teahouse, and elsewhere. He lives and writes in London, England.
Also by Myles: Horror Story