{"id":2772,"date":"2015-02-22T23:07:15","date_gmt":"2015-02-22T23:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/?p=2772"},"modified":"2015-02-22T23:07:15","modified_gmt":"2015-02-22T23:07:15","slug":"lose-justin-karcher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/shortstories\/lose-justin-karcher\/","title":{"rendered":"We Could Lose All Our…by Justin Karcher"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"OLYMPUS<\/a>
Somewhere Above Sea Level by Sky Black<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We Could Lose All Our Friends Thanks to Climate Change<\/h1>\n

by Justin Karcher<\/p>\n

Sam\u2019s text read, \u201cPlz come over, its an Emgcy.\u201d<\/p>\n

I met Sam in his bathroom. He was sitting in an office chair, his back to the door, and holding a fishing rod. The bathtub was full of water. The only window was wide open and the October wind was blowing in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on a date,” I said. \u201cThanks for the text. I was getting lucky and I could use the intimacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you like my new chair?\u201d he asked. \u201cI got it today. It\u2019s ergonomic. Good for the back.\u201d<\/p>\n

I had to put my foot down. \u201cI didn\u2019t forgo some thigh licking because you wanted to show me a damn chair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam swiveled his chair around to face me and the way he did it reminded me of some high-powered corporate CEO about to fire someone. He stared at me while petting the fishing rod. \u201cThis fishing rod belonged to my grandpa,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen he was diagnosed with MS, it ruined his ability to fish. He just couldn\u2019t hold the rod anymore.”<\/p>\n

My patience was wearing thin. I kept thinking of Katherine. That was going somewhere. There was playful touching, the batting of eyelashes. My hand rested on her left thigh during the whole movie. \u201cWhat’s the emergency?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoastal cities,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ll be underwater within a decade or two. All because of sea level and how it\u2019s rising. Like Noah\u2019s Ark.\u201d<\/p>\n

I noticed two empty bottles of Rebel Yell Bourbon underneath the ergonomic office chair. \u201cYou\u2019ve been drinking,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAren\u2019t you worried about climate change?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was on a date!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sam swiveled his chair back toward the bathtub. “All this flooding made me think of my grandpa,” he said. “The few times we went fishing together, he would always babble on and on about how sometimes you\u2019ll catch a ghost or two. What you do with them separates the men from the boys. You can beat them on the rocks or you can be a Samaritan and release them.”<\/p>\n

“I don’t think life is that cut and dry,” I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I dug up his old fishing rod,\u201d Sam continued, \u201cand filled up the bathtub. I wanted to catch some ghosts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think so, but I freaked out. That\u2019s when I texted you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy\u2019d you freak out?\u201d<\/p>\n

There were tears in his eyes. \u201cBecause grandpa never told me what kind of man he was. I think he beat the ghosts on rocks. He never released them. He bathed in ectoplasm all his life. And pretty soon, the whole world will be bathing in it too.\u201d<\/p>\n

All this ectoplasm talk was making me thirsty. \u201cYou have any bourbon left?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded and walked to the kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cMikey,\u201d Sam yelled out, \u201cI bashed their heads on the side of the tub.\u201d<\/p>\n

I poured myself a stiff drink and texted Katherine. It was going to be a long night.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

Justin Karcher (@justin_karcher) lives in Buffalo, NY. Recent works have appeared in Crab Fat Literary Magazine, Mixtape Methodology, Maudlin House, and A Story in 100 Words.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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