Earlimart's Campaign to Stop the Sadness

By Daniel Casebeer
100 words

He writes her for years before receiving a reply. Then, all at once, a bundle of letters arrives on his doorstep. There is a pink one that smells like bananas, a yellow one that smells like oranges, and a beige one with scalloped edges that doesn't smell like anything. At the bottom of the bunch, sealed with a glob of black wax, is an envelope small enough to fit in his pocket. One by one, he opens the envelopes and spreads their contents on table. Then, wedging a pipe beneath his moustache, he pretends not to recognize his own handwriting.



Daniel Casebeer lives in Pittsburgh. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Gloom Cupboard, Lexicon, and Ophelia Street.