"Coughing Fit" by Caleb Bouchard

Coughing Fit

A man picked up a half-smoked cigarette from the ground. He inhaled, savoring the sweet tobacco. As he released the smoke, the man turned into a zebra. He spotted his reflection in a shop window and galloped and whinnied with joy. Dropping the cigarette, he charged home to tell his family he had just been promoted. 

A plastic bag blowing through the wind then picked up the cigarette. The bag inhaled, immediately collapsing into a series of side-splitting coughs. At the intersection sat a family of plastic bags in a large SUV. The little boy and little girl plastic bags pointed, quivering, asking their plastic parents, “What kind of weather is that?” 

Caleb Bouchard

Caleb Bouchard's writing has recently appeared in The Atlanta Review, Saw Palm, and Thimble Literary Magazine. His translations of the French poet Jacques Prevel have appeared in Black Sun Lit and Poet Lore. Link up with him on Instagram @calebbouchard.

Headshot: Aubrie Sofala

Photo Credit: Staff