My Body is a Cage and Other Stories

It feels the same as if any human poked the side of her face, except its sharp nail left a
shallow cut on her cheek.
Okay.
A drop of blood runs down to her jaw. The creaturescoops it up on its finger and raises it
to its eye-level, turning it in the yellow street-light.
Why are you here?
The creature ignores her, fascinated by her blood.
Please answer.
It bares its needle-teeth at her and hisses. Crawlsback up the wall while facing her and
closes its vacuum eyes. She wakes up with blood crustedon her face. She doesn’t tell her mother
about it, or anyone else.
The next day at work is particularly horrible. Onecustomer insists the money from his
return should go back to his Visa, goddamnit, andnot on one of those store vouchers and no
matter how many times Eileen explains she can’t dothat because it’s been over thirty days since
the purchase, the customer looks at her like one wouldlook at the dog shit on their shoe. The
manager is called, who then uses his manager magicto do exactly what the customer wants
without any repercussions for the customer and makingEileen look like an idiot.
Then the one guy shows up at her register. He mustnot remember her, because he tries
the same line on her again. Is she that forgettable?He leans in and whispers, “They gave me a
code word for a discount.”
She can’t help it. She snaps. “Please shut the fuckup and pay already.”
His face turns bright red and the manager is called.The rest of the night passes in a blur.
After closing, the manager calls her into his officeand tells her she’s fired for her unprofessional