“Weight”

A short story

Tyler Allen, Guest Writer

Day one:

Hey, Sal! So I kinda juuuust got here and I am already ready to pack my bags. I honestly cannot stand bugs so this excursion will be short lived for s u r e. Maybe if I “get sick” they’ll let me go home early. Then I won’t have to deal with these behemoths they’re calling ‘small flies’. I mean, seriously! I get that this is the amazon or whatever but would it kill these people to invest in some pest control? I’m about 200% sure that a tarantula is going to crawl into mouth while I’m sleeping and like use me as an incubator for it’s hairy little alien babies or something. No joke. Hey that reminds me, don’t forget to feed Wyatt! He’s not himself when he’s hungry. Anyway though, Sassy Wyatt aside, I really miss you (I know it’s only been like 14 hours but still). I know that I said I’d write to you everyday but, I don’t know if that’ll be possible. Apparently a few guys from Sector J got lost in brush? The bush? I have no idea. This forest is like a labyrinth. We may have to take on more work to make up for the loss of hands but, I’ll try my best! This is gonna be a long trip. I love you, we’ll talk soon.

Day eight:

WELP. That absolutely did NOT go as planned. Whoops. We’ve been completely swamped with so much friggin work. Truthfully, if the government wasn’t capable of capturing my entire family to hold hostage until I returned with their precious secrets, I would’ve voluntarily gone MIA like seven decades ago. I’m really sorry, babe.

We lost two more people the other day. One of them was Aldwin. I’ve been working with the man for years and he had never gotten lost. He’s more cautious than my great Aunt Ede, I don’t understand how he could just disappear. I’m starting to get a little scared if I’m honest.  I’m sure he’s fine, it’s just a little weird is all. Captain’s getting more and more agitated. It’s probably the workload getting to her. Hell, it’s getting to all of us. It’s only been a little over a week and half of our crew is gone. and we’re all exhausted.

All of that aside, I didn’t get your letter. I know that you sent it, I’m not doubting you! Just check the private postal please? Knowing that I’ll see you when this is over is only thing keeping me going at this point.

Day 12:

Well, today is significantly better an the previous days have been. Morale seems great. Everyone is enjoying their stay here. Nothing bothers us. We are calm waters. We are stable. We are content. We are Pleased. We are grateful. We are grateful. Thank you. Give thanks. Thank you grateful thank. You.

Day00

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Week ∞:

You never wrote back.

I love you.