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    Eating Batteries
    Eating Batteries
    Eating Batteries
    Ebook76 pages1 hour

    Eating Batteries

    By Pamela Griner and Ginger Collins

    ()

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    About this ebook

    This collection of short stories is a subconscious exploration of the feminine archetype through fiction. Originally inspired by dreams, Eating Batteries touches on everyday themes of travel, motherhood, addiction, friendship, and marriage. The characters are both strange and familiar; the stories both resonant and disturbing. Like our dreams, these stories are unpredictable. You'll never know what's coming next. 

    In a daring blend of comedy, realism, horror, fantasy, and dystopia, Griner and Collins just may have started a genre of their own. 

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDiddy Pubs
    Release dateNov 1, 2017
    ISBN9781540127594
    Eating Batteries
    Author

    Pamela Griner

    Pamela Griner is a producer living in Los Angeles with her husband and three young children. She loves to read, write, see live music and good films, and play in all sorts of outdoor activities including hiking, snowboarding, tennis, rock climbing, and swimming. Her collaborations with Ginger –in writing, travel, and friendship – have held a special place in her life for over two decades.

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      Book preview

      Eating Batteries - Pamela Griner

      Part 1

      Motherhood

      "Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful.

      It’s the transition that’s troublesome."

      – Isaac Asimov

      Macintosh HD:Users:georgeb:Desktop:EatingBatteries:IMG_3259 (2).jpg

      Eating Batteries

      ––––––––

      Delicious, like a chocolate truffle but without the calories. As Virginia looked around for familiar faces, she pulled one out of her pocket and popped it in her mouth.

      She and her husband Eric were finally having a night out. A real one, with other adults and no official agenda, no dinner-and-a-movie. Virginia thought about how ubiquitous house parties had been in her younger days, and how, over time, they had all turned into dinner parties with essentially the same guest list and slight variations of basically the same menu. But this one felt like old times: a party at Greg’s, complete with a keg and a DJ. They had all been close once, but with Greg untethered to children or family life, it had been a while since they were together.

      Her toddler home in bed and her husband off to find his buddies, Virginia tried to remember what came next. A drink was typically the first step, she recalled, but drinking wasn’t her poison these days. Spinning in bed with a dry mouth didn’t pair well with being awakened before sunrise.

      She kept a stash of triple-As with her—having a house full of electronic trains meant batteries were always available—and she’d been snacking on them tonight. She loved how crunchy they were; she bit into the inner section and felt the sweet liquid ooze down her throat. Before her son was born she’d been quite a partier. But once she’d discovered the battery buzz, she’d never looked back. Not only was it tasty, it gave her energy, as advertised, with no hangover attached.

      Virginia wandered into the backyard where there was a crowd of people dancing to Missy Elliott. She felt her groove coming back. It had been a long three years. She recognized a woman with a pink barbed-wire armband tattoo whom she knew back during her gin-and-tonic days.

      Claire?

      Virginia! Hey! Long time! Claire’s eyes widened, surprised to see her friend. She reached out for a partial hug just as Virginia took note of a large, crusty patch of skin on Claire’s forehead. It wasn’t easy to divert her eyes, and Claire seemed to notice. She waved over a man standing nearby.

      Justin, have you met Virginia? I have no memory these days!

      I don't think so, Justin said, extending his hand. Hey there, Virginia. Justin. The husband.

      Virginia grinned. We’re both married! Man, time flies.

      Claire pulled Justin close and whispered something. He walked away, looking slightly perturbed, but Claire seemed unruffled.

      So you and Eric got married too? asked Claire.

      We did, and along came baby. He’s almost three now.

      Wow! We have two! I guess Greg’s still holding out, huh? Both of the women looked to the party host who was dancing with a young, sexy brunette in a tight mini-dress that barely covered her ass.

      Justin returned, cracking open a can of Coke. Claire excused herself and stepped away with him to an unlit spot by a tree. Virginia’s eyes followed them and watched as Justin poured a small amount of soda on Claire’s head. Claire didn’t resist in any way, as though she expected it. That’s strange, Virginia thought. Justin and Claire shared a few more words before Claire dabbed her forehead with her scarf and headed back toward her.

      Virginia absentmindedly reached into her pocket and tried to pop another battery in her mouth.

      Girl, you do it, too? Claire asked with a wink.

      Do what? Virginia tried to cover her slip up, and hid the battery in the fleshy part of her cheek.

      Be careful. It’s hard to stop. Claire seemed to know what she was talking about, and issued her advice without a judgmental tone.

      Virginia was shocked. You mean you eat them too? I never tell anybody...I just put one in my mouth one day...I don’t know why, I can barely remember...the baby woke up crying and I walked in to get him from his crib in a daze and stepped on a battery...I picked it up and before I had realized what I was doing, I had already bitten it in half...I had no control!

      "Don’t worry! We all do it. It’s one of those things they skip over in baby class, you know, things they never tell you because you’d never believe you could ever be so broken or stoop so low...‘that won’t happen to me.’ Has this happened to you yet?" Claire pulled her bangs apart and pointed to the spot on her forehead. The flaky white scales were mostly gone, but a few small spots remained.

      Virginia squinted and strained, as if her teenage friend were asking her if her zit looked bad. I don't really see anything.

      The acid spots. It’s okay, I know you saw them. The positive ones are really hard to hide. Fortunately, the negative ones are usually hidden by my shoes.

      Negative ones? I’m not sure—

      Before Virginia could

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