E

by Nathan Alling Long

There were many rumours about Mr. E, that the E stood for Eccentric, or Erratic, or Erotic. No one knew. But here Jacob sat in Mr. E’s dining room, sipping tea from a plain white mug, talking about philosophy. Everything seemed quite normal.

Almost.

Jacob couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right, though the lamp gave off a warm glow against the soft white walls, and the mug felt magical in his hands.

He didn’t know that it was made of a unicorn horn, the walls were painted in mermaid milk, and the lamp shade made from unspeakable skin.



Author bio: Nathan’s collection of fifty flash fiction, The Origin of Doubt, was just released from Press 53. His unpublished collection, Two Stories, Some Tales, and a Yarn, was a finalist for the Hudson Book Manuscript Prize and a semifinalist for the Iowa Fiction Award.  For more information, other stories, or essays, please visit http://wp.stockton.edu/longn/.

E is part of 101 Fiction issue 18.