Common Oddities Speculative Fiction Sideshow, Autumn 2014 Read online

Trial Participant Statement from Sarah {last name redacted}:

  “Sleep… what I wouldn’t give for a good night’s sleep, without pills, of course. It’s impossible to turn things off. Every little, stray thought keeps me up. Like this one time I stayed up all night thinking about what it means when our underwear reaches a point where it’s no longer really clean. Impossible to clean. There’s always a little staining, after a certain point. Usually after the seventh wash. But I need to catch myself. Can you imagine? How come that is? I do, did, the laundry. Don’t get me started on laundry. Once I start it’s hard to stop. That’s how it is with everything, just an example. Examples are another thing. I can come up with examples of examples...

  This is my second ward this year. Dale, that’s my husband, we’re getting a divorce, put me here. He did the first time too, but now he says he’s done. He wouldn’t take the medicine with me but I thought, you know, it might spice things up. Ever been married? It can get dull. So he puts me in here because I tried to… you know. You read the report. That’s why you wanted to talk with me isn’t it? I’m suicidal. Who wouldn’t be?”