Brandi Wells

largish people

the largish people move in across the street and the neighborhood shifts. gravitational pull changes. parents don’t let their children go outside and play. parents smother their children so they won’t have to worry. the children try to resist, but are smothered. people smile and wave at the largish people, but it’s disingenuous. you can tell by the angles their hands are cocked at, the speed of their waves, a little whistle in the air created by wind tunnels formed by the motion of their hands. the largish people wave back, big friendly waves. the largish people think such smallish people are cute. itsy bitsy, they say.

Brandi Wells is Managing Editor of The Black Warrior Review and a web editor at Hobart. She is the author of Please Don’t Be upset (Tiny Hardcore Press) and Poisonhorse (Nephew, An imprint of Mudluscious Press). Her writing can be found in Salamander, Mid-American Review, Gargoyle, Forklift Ohio, 14 Hills and many other journals.