128: Filthy Land Animal Lungs

There’s one story in Twisted Presents I haven’t read here, so that’s what you get. This isn’t a fairytale, but: Once upon a time, we were all friends. And it’s not going to end happily ever after. On this Christmas Eve, three tedious years after the disastrous college summer when Kurt betrayed us, Phil and I are finally making an ending. Kurt’s ill-gotten mansion looms on an isolated northern California cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. This deep in the night, the scents of ocean and eucalyptus rule the air. After crossing thousands of miles of open water without being soiled by filthy land animal lungs, the air is so rich that it makes me feel a little high. I deliberately focus on the basics of burglary, keeping my breath slow and placing each foot meticulously on the kitchen’s porcelain tile. Enough moonlight seeps through the fog to illuminate the mansion’s insane luxury. Had Jim died so that Kurt could have two ovens large enough to roast a calf in? Was Sarah rotting in a…