The Electric Dance Conspiracy

I climbed into the inconspicuous lavender gray caravan; it’s headlights peering into both eye’s iris. In the dashboard glow of the van’s interior, I fished the phone from my pocket and made a call. On the other end, the voice responded with news of distress. The driver and I thought about our face options: altruism, apathy, indifference, but then genuine concern rose into our cheeks. She turned the steering wheel to the east direction, then four blocks later, to the west direction where it stayed until the search and recovery team was assembled. One arose from sleep, the other from a shower, and the two originals, including myself, detoured from our quest, diverged onto a path full of flashing lights and raving sound.
I remember the pearl white lane changes and crimson brake lights that guided our fifty-five minute drive into the streets of downtown Los Angeles. The rest of the night went as follows.

-Sixteen year olds dressed down from dinner party attire.

-Carnival sounds, and blazing orange bulbs on spinning indigo saucers.

-A steel perforated gate and electric lime roadblock.

-The inside of an “open 24-hour,” International House of Pancakes.

-Valencia orange juice in a glass.

-Handprint bruises wrapped around our rescued companion’s neck.

-A lacquered black grand piano sitting in the lobby of a twelve-floor hotel.

-Fishnet stockings pulled up over thongs, and tucked under harlequin skirts.

-Stairs and an elevator, an elevator and stairs (semi-spiral).

-The frost-like charcoal eyeliner under a blonde’s eyes, her gilded locks falling just before her shoulders, elbows slightly bent into the cherry blossom pink dress that hung a foot above her knees. A bright yellow modish corset flowed from out of her dress near her hips and rested above her shoulder tops. Her translucent bubbly heels that looked like shoe molded out of boiling water rose with the giddiness of ten thousand school children on a first day of class.

-Her eyes catching my stare through the mirror.

-The drive home, completely dozed.

Masking the Unmasked

We sat bundled in the shirts on our backs, renouncing our premature return from a night of alcohol and thought. Headlights zigzagged behind us and we ducked into the marble darkness near the chilled muddy earth. Like a mould casted from the raw iron of heat and political distemper, we buried the lives of few shadow walkers under layers of psychological realism. What remained were ten page tributes to these figures’ motion based stereotypical lives. Their stories, sunk into my imagination much like a tattoo on the skin; deep, but mutable. In the cold frost of the air, I sat buckle-kneed waiting for a moment that would outlast my momentary sensuous pondering. Potentiality. The same feeling came to me in a Starbucks Coffee, while reading a Michael Chabon story about penning a superhero for cash. Metaphorically speaking, superheroes don’t have to save the day either. It’s a choice. A beneficial choice. Then, as soon as I put down the warm tea I thought to myself, “Why did I think of this?”

Christopher Uller

Colours

I do remember a few things. The lights changed from sapphire to magenta and the music pounded our ears. Cool tones from B flat arpeggios rocked our hips left and right, right and left, then back again. Amidst the fuss and static of it all, she grabbed my hip and detected our similarity. “White people” dancing is a sign of togetherness and supposedly made room for small talk. The blacks in my eyes dilated and the drink’s milky froth spilled over our shoes. L.A. Water. She asked if I was “religious” and I told her the truth. The loudness of it crossed my mind, but I couldn’t escape the flashlight and the debased floor mop. It grew hotter and hotter, until we left that floor. Outside and across the street showed the giant martini glass with a cadmium yellow underline. The stars hid from the night, and our group of seven walked through the alley and onto the asphalt. Our ride was waiting. On the seat in the van, my sweater laid. It was electric blue. Still is.

Christopher Uller

I Hadn't Recognized You There

The phone rattled and buzzed and broke out in song.
The woman seated next to me handwriting her crossword score turned and asked,
“Are you going to answer that?”

Christopher Uller