Rhinoceros

“Adonis!!” I Hear a woman call from the hallway outside. “Adonis, are you home?” The phone operator repeats different names, again and again, hoping to hear a response from me if she should find the match.

"Adolf? no can't be. Adelle? I can't tell, she was whispering, or he," she answers someone else in the background, "Adam? Adler? Abel?"

"Adonis," I whisper as loud as I could into the phone, far too weak for my neighbor outside in the hallway to hear me.

The emergency operator responds, "I think he said Adonis, can you run a search on that name for me?" she asks her colleague, who affirms.



“Caldwell” I whisper as my eyes darken their gaze slowly as I drift away into a dream.

"Callwell, he said he Calllwell," I hear her muffled words from the phone, now far awy from my hand, laying on the floor under the coffee table. How I wish I purchased that fancy oak table. Would have looked so sweet from this angle, as I lay here with my face drenched in a pool of my own blood and saliva. She continues on the phone, begging me for a response, but I can't; honestly, I just don't want to. Who has the energy to drag their body a few more feet for something that might never happen. It's just not worth the frustration.

Plus, with all the ostriches running around, it's hard to get my sights aimed at the head of the rhinoceros heading directly towards me at full speed. He must think that stupid looking horn is going to scare me.

"Excuse me? I'm a lady, jerk!" the rhinoceros corrects me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Well now you do know," she asserts.

"It's a good thing I didn't shoot this rifle at you," I jokingly attempt to diffuse her anger.

"Good thing for you," she responds.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so tired lately, haven't had much energy it seems," I confess to her, disarming her threatening tone.

"Well you should eat better, have you had rhinoceros?"

"I can't say that I have, no, but I can't imagine it would taste very good, probably not as good as chicken," I venture a guess, confused by her response.

"Well here," she offers as she pulls a layer of muscle off of her thigh. Her pink skirt drops casually as her revealing gesture catches my stare. She smiles quite approvingly.

"Rhino's can taste good twice if you play your cards right," she flirts.