A THING by ELIOT S. KU
Orangutan with a Gun
Welcome to the new reality show where once a week you’re pitted against an orangutan in a fast-draw showdown at high noon, the orangutan outfitted with a dusty, sweat-stained cowboy hat and a gun belt cradling a revolver that sags like rotten fruit, except the game seems rigged; the orangutan always wins, and the audience never gets bored, but you do, you get bored with this life even as it is taken away from you like a rug pulled out from beneath your spinning boot spurs again and again and again.
Eliot S. Ku (he/his) is a physician who lives in New Mexico with his wife and two children. His writing has appeared in several online literary journals, including most recently: The Raven Review, Close to the Bone, Lost Balloon, Roi Faineant Press, and Bending Genres. You can read more at eliotsku.com.