AND THE MAN WHO CHOPPED OFF HIS TOE

The rooftop drain pissed out a cold stream into the back alley. Droplets of rain shattered into smaller pieces on metal railings. Puddles on roofs filled with temporary circles large and small. Sam studied all of this from his couch by the window.

He was not complete. The earth had the sky and salt shakers had pepper shakers but he was not complete. Sam got up from the couch and headed towards the bathroom.

The faint sound of rain pittering and pattering made its way through the air vents into the bathroom.

He was not a complete human being. There was something that was missing. He had tried to explain this so many times to people who simply looked at him in disbelief. One girlfriend of a friend had laughed out loud when he told them what was missing. She laughed and laughed as her mouth chewed down on the word "baby toe". People didn't want to hear his stuttered attempts at explaining how the absence of something could make somebody complete.

He clipped his baby toenail and the fraction of nail flew up and down into the toilet bowl. For some reason this brought to mind a camera and Sam pondered whether a photo would be too morbid or not. Too morbid.

Sam placed his toe on the cutting board inside the tub and brought the cleaver down with the weight of his body. With his annoying little baby toe out of the picture, Sam would be a new man. An emptiness on the edge of his foot was what he craved his whole life.

The sound of rain faded into nothing.