three pieces by julianna towns
 

clicker

    they came when they saw it and when they came close, sometimes they got thrown across the world.
    they didn't know why, they didn't know what would happen. then the clicker people sent golbrith, the aged, to consult the great one on the green.
    golbrith rejoiced; now he had purpose.
    as he approached, the god moved slightly. so golbrith lie still, watching and waiting. then the god lay a sprig of wildly scented foliage atop the clicker (now priest) and golbrith closed his eyes and prayed for the first time in clicker history.
the god lowered his tentacle, as it waved its fire stick around, and stroked golbrith on his head.
with tears in his eyes, golbrith meant to shout out, "i love you!" but his life's breath got stolen by the shallow bugs, who gathered round, ignorant of the great one on the dais. stupid folk. golbrith quivered, immobilized, not yet dead, while the worker people disassembled his limbs and devoured him alive.
 
 

normal

"Can you pass me a sucrets?" he said as he put the vcr on play. "No, fucker, get it yourself!" she laughed and then wiped a line of drool from her mouth as she was shoveling in a big spoonful of tahini. "Mmmm. This is really good! Try some." And she tried to pass a spoonful into his mouth while he was playing reluctant and they made themselves laugh like they thought it was funny but she just really got annoyed because she spilled the tahini on the pillowcase and tried to wipe it off, but it mad a greasy stain she knew would never come out. "Le't's watch Battlestar Galactica," he cried, looking like a big smiley faced clown thing. She cringed inside but knew her lover knew best so she went along passively even though she really would have rather watched the show on Lifetime about the retarded man who fell in love with a normal girl. "Ok. I love you babe," she said and secretly despised him.
 
 

100 tvs

there's an altar in every room the constant mumble and purge makes you feel like a hydrocephalic baby crawling through a beehive and yet one more was added the other day. now the church of 100 tvs is nearly complete the congregates sit and they wait for their magic messages you can hear the applause and the touchdowns and the helium voices bouncing off the transept and careening down the nave even after the altars have been placated for the night the antichrist came by one day and tried shutting them off one by one but he wasn't swift enough poor devil so he had a cigarette and wished he were back in the neolithic when there were no churches or tv.