he is a king, he has a palace, he has a pet pangolin, he has a pastry chef, he has his own physician

he’s a prince

he’s the prince’s cousin’s guardian

of alpine peaks where alpine breezes dance within his alpine lungs and the weight of his body is a feather

of adventures

in ultra-high-definition

in cerulean, lapis lazuli, chartreuse, viridian, the taste of wisteria sunsets settling like Parma Violets on his tongue

he’s an octopus

he’s an astronaut who gets a daily check-up from a doctor who doesn’t have a disbelieving eyebrow

about a time it wasn’t normal

about the moon, floating formless in a silvered sky

with ease

of a fairytale cottage where the walls are washed with watermelon and the floor is caramel crunch

of chocolate fountains

of surf and turf

of pigs in blankets in peanut butter in jelly beans in pomegranate juice

in 3-bit RGB graphics blocked out in basic hues

of green

of cyan

of yellow days when he’s in pain but the pain is a parrot not a vulture

without fear

without forgetting

without wanting to

that it’s his birthday

that there’s a fatless, eggless, sugar-free sponge

that he’s the popular kid at a school for middle-aged men who’ve mislaid the roadmap to their former life

he’s a contortionist

he’s more than the sum of his problematic parts

in monochrome, detective noir

about a haunted house

about a hut on a windswept hillside where he lives off lettuce and heritage carrots

he’s a pilgrim

he’s a hermit but he’s healthy, he’s gluten free

of the anvil of his body

within a nightmare

about the unbearable reality of living

in darkness

outside of time

within a wish

of a midnight picnic in a quiet garden where the lowly slugs are more contented than a king

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Matt Kendrick is a writer, editor, and teacher based in the East Midlands, UK. His work has been featured in various journals and anthologies including Best Microfiction, Best Small Fictions, and the Wigleaf Top 50. He lives with a chronic imagination and a chronic illness called Trevor. Website: https://www.mattkendrick.co.uk/. Bluesky: @mattkendrick.bsky.social