One by one, the talk show hosts were dying. We looked for connections, signs of foul play, but suspected we were wrong. Some expressed surprise that they were still among the living, only just now lowered by headlines into the vault of history. The rest mimicked respect with their silence.
Black and white images filled our screens—presidents, showgirls, pundits, musicians. One host was known for his black lacquered glasses. Another was always obscured in a cloud of cigar smoke, except for his wandering hands. Their sponsors addressed the audience stoically, shirt cuffs held together by silver rockets and microchips.
There were high times, recalled the retired columnist over the brim of her cocktail.
There were low times, noted the documentarian seated at his editing console.
We commuted between window displays of mannequins in spangled gowns, bathtubs in the shape of inverted fedoras. Our watches glowed green in the dimness of elevator cars. The longer we wore them, the more intricate the divots cut into our skin.Â
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Pedro Ponce is the author of The Devil and the Dairy Princess, winner of the Don Belton Fiction Prize and a finalist for the 2021 Big Other Book Award for Fiction. His short stories and flash fiction have appeared in Ploughshares, Copper Nickel, Witness, and other journals. His work has also been featured in the anthologies New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction and The Best Small Fictions 2019.