Ghost Parachute

A Literary Magazine

An Idea Declared Itself Between Us

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An Idea Declared Itself Between Us

I chiseled at the idea to see if it would budge, but that made it only balloon more between us. Black letters inside jumbled and spun in a ball, like they were caught in a dryer. They entranced me. You were speaking but I couldn’t hear you; I didn’t want to anymore. The more I stared at the idea, the stronger and more fanciful it became. Whole clouds floated around the letters, a field of yellow flowers danced in the wind. The bold, outlined letters faded behind the images. A blank page with cursive writing floated up in the air and I reached up to catch it.

You took a hammer and smashed the idea. Broken letters strewn all over the floor. A pool of cloud water at my feet. The hammer dangled from your hand. “The idea was going to destroy us,” you said.

I stared down at the letters, and watched an “I” tremble and twitch.

About Cheryl Pappas

Cheryl Pappas is the author of the flash fiction collection The Clarity of Hunger (Word West Press, 2021) and the forthcoming novel A Thousand Ways to Disappear (Cornerstone Press, 2028). Her stories have appeared in Five Points, The Cincinnati Review, Wigleaf, SmokeLong Quarterly, and elsewhere. She writes and teaches in the Boston area.

Artist Credit:

Amy Marques grew up between languages and places and learned, from an early age, the multiplicity of narratives. She’s been nominated for multiple awards, longlisted twice in Wigleaf 50, and has visual art, poetry, and prose published in journals such as Streetcake Magazine, South Florida Poetry Journal, Fictive Dream, Unlost, Ghost Parachute, BOOTH, Chicago Quarterly Review, and Gone Lawn. She is editor & visual artist for the Duets anthologies, author & artist of the chapbook Are You Willing? and the found poetry book PARTS. More at https://amybookwhisperer.wordpress.com.