Madness and Women
Stories
Poetry
the perfect kiss
he was eleven and riding his bike too fast because he was late for dinner.
he cut across olivia sinclair’s front lawn.
he hit his forehead on a low branch of a tree.
the bike went out from under him and he landed on his back.
he opened his eyes and looked up.
olivia stared down at him.
she was considered the most beautiful girl in his sixth grade class.
“are you alright?”
“yeah.”
she looked into his eyes.
she slowly leaned in and kissed him and it was a perfect kiss.
olivia changed into the neighbor’s dog and his breath smelled like meatballs.
_____
“hey kid what the fuck do you think you’re doing with my dog?”
his neighbor pulled the dog away from him and his wife showed up.
she whispered “he’s that kid from down the street.”
“what kid?”
“you know that kid.”
the neighbor warned him to stay away from his dog.
as he rode his bike home all he could think about was having a meatball sandwich.
______
a few days later he was at the beach near his house.
the real olivia tapped him on the shoulder.
she asked why did he kiss the neighbor’s dog on her front lawn.
he said he thought it was her.
he noticed the setting sun was positioned behind her.
he felt the wind on his face and heard the waves landing on the shore.
she leaned in close to kiss him and it was another perfect kiss.
______
as he rode his bike home he started thinking about that meatball sandwich again.