hidey two-toes
by SAYSO
βHowβs your head?β she said, where Deadhead would have said less instead.
βMy head is in bed,β I said. βWhere else would it be at a-quarter to three? I canβt stand when my mind plays these time tricks on me.β
Each time Hidey comes over she brings me a rose, and catches me staring at her bare-feeted toes. She has extra toes on both her feet, where her pinky toes and toenails meet. Most girls with twelve toes have two toes too many, but not my friend Hidey; she has two less than Lenny. And Lenny has less than his brother and wife, who keep cutting them off with a buttering knife!
βWhat brings you here?β I finally say,
with Hidey half-hiding behind yesterday.
βYou knew I was coming, you told me I should.
I saw you this morning, I told you I would!β
Tears appear quickly,
I ponder each word.
βDid we talk earlier?
That seems so absurd.
Iβve not spoken today until I saw you.β
I look at my watch:
itβs a-quarter to two!
βYou should pack your bags and visit my house! My only true friends are two goats and a mouse! You never come over but I live just next door! Oh our friendship to you is so much a chore.β
As the rose in her hand falls down to her feet, where her pinky toes and toenails meet, where we both stare down at her barefeeted toes: βHuh!β...
Hidey looks up with an extra nose.
SAYSO is an indie artist acknowledging the Wurundjeri People and Kulin Nation as the rightful custodians of the Land: always.