HIKIKOMORI

< by ellen kennedy and tao lin >

dear tao

a lonely ugly fish goes on a drunken rampage. he ugly fish isn't drunk. i lied. he is just really really lonely which has the same effect as being drunk.

the lonely ugly fish gets in its red pick-up truck. it drives to a set of railroad tracks. it drives over top of the railroad tracks and stops across them. it shuts off the truck, gets out, and walks away.

the ugly fish walks home to its extremely large but mostly empty studio apartment. its glowing computer screen gives off the only light. the ugly fish signs into its gmail account. there are no new messages. the ugly fish is waiting for its ugly fish friend to email. they have been fighting. the ugly fish has emailed its friend six times.

the ugly fish closes its eyes very tightly then clicks 'inbox' to refresh its inbox. after it clicks, it waits a few seconds then opens its eyes to check for a reply for the ugly fish friend. there is no reply. the ugly fish closes its eyes tight, clicks, waits, then opens again. no new messages. the ugly fish repeats this five more times. then in frustration, the ugly fish squeezes the mouse and clicks on 'inbox' repeatedly, as fast as it can, until it falls to the floor, screaming in agony.

no new messages.

ellen

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