I wake up. I'm on my bed. I sit up. I crane my kneck to my left and peer out of the window. People litter the streets. I get up. I walk to the window to get a better view of the scenery. People are joyous. Why? Are they celebrating something? What? Should they even be outside? Then I see it: the sublime. My reader, have you ever seen a Gold Finch? We have them in New Jersey. They are gold. They are beautiful. But this one is different. Imagine, a Gold Finch mixed with a crane. The animal is stupifying. People are partying! So many people. Outside. Right outside my house, this creature stands. It is tall, my reader. We lock eyes, this creature and I. A smile sneaks its way onto my face. I haven't felt my lips do this in some time. A helicopter descends. Black. It lands on my avenue. Wizards flood out. BANG! BANG! Their wands become drums that become blood that spills and spills out the dead people. I look at the creature and it looks back at me.
I close the curtain. I turn on my bedside lamp. I sit in my chair and stare at the wall for hours, pretending it to be a portal into another world. I see goblins. It is a world full of goblins. These goblins are not so different from humans. There is one goblin, in particular, that interests me greatly. Their name is Txori (They/them pronouns represent these creatures better than he/she, for goblins abolished gender in the 20th red moon). Txori lives in a house. Txori was raised by their birthers sibling, Osaba. Txori never knew their parents. Both had been killed in the mines a few days after Txori was born. Txori was playing by their fence. The neighbor, Bizilaguna, is wealthier than Txori and owns their very own gnome. The gnome is near the fence, tending to the garden. The garden is giant. Txori looks longingly at the garden, for it contains the Dirua fruit. The Dirua glows brilliantly in the sunlight. The gnome takes a break. While the gnome is distracted, Txori hops the fence and sneaks over to the garden. Txori quickly picks the smallest Dirua. Txori becomes giddy. Osaba could finally take a day off from the mines! Maybe, Osaba might even take Txori out to the museum! BANG! Bizilangua shot their neighbor. Goblins held their property as sacred, especially Bizilangua. The gnome, mistakenly, saw this as an opportunity to escape. But gnomes are small and not too quick. Bizilangua reloaded their gun and shot the gnome dead in its tracks. Property is sacred.
I feel sad for Txori and decide to stop pretending I am looking at a portal. Txori had had good intentions. I get up from my chair, walk over to the window, open the curtains, and look outside. The bodies have been cleared and it is now late. I close the curtains. I walk. over to the bathroom, brush my teeth, wash my face, and turn the lights off. I had forgotten to eat that day, but I reassured myself I would eat tomorrow. As I waited for sleep, I wondered when this wizard war would end. Simultaneously, I wondered if Txori had gone to a better place. Txori seemed roughly my age (when converting human age to goblin age). Txori did not deserve to die, in my opinion. Eventually, I fall asleep.
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from Short Stories
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