Ray Gun Revival magazine, Issue 53

channels,” Charlie said, chewing his
meatloaf.
“Dad, you don’t understand!
They’re so-o-o great! How can you
think they’re bad?” Violet’s eyes
were downcast as she played with
her peas.
“We just don’t know, Dear,” Merrie
said. “Best be careful.” Merrie
took Apache, their marmalade tomcat,
off the table for the 1,131 st time
that month.
***
A few days later at school, Coventry
Lipshutz and Violet Tooner liberated
just a few, little stones from the
geology room. They drilled holes in
them using a drill press in an empty
shop classroom, got some old guitar
string from a wastebasket in the
music department, made the necklaces
ready and put them in their
backpacks. Soon, it was recess. They
tried to sneak by the teachers on
playground monitor duty, but that
was unnecessary. The teachers were
preoccupied.
“Like, eww?” Violet shielded her
eyes.
“Like, you didn’t know? Strip pinochle
is the new craze. All the old
people are doing it,” Coventry whispered.
Violet and Coventry walked to the
end of the playground with several
precautionary looks behind their
shoulders. Then, when no one was
watching, dashed over the embankment
to the wetlands behind the
school. Stepping around discarded
vials and amorous couples, they
came to the lily pond.
“Do you think we got it right?”
Coventry said from behind Violet,
who was leaning down precariously
over the banking.
“Oh please, Covie! If you want to
double check, look at the pic the Jovians
left on your cell, and go over
the necklace again. We just gotta try
it.” Violet coaxed the swans toward
the rushes at the edge.
“Maybe you should use the bread
from my lunch?” Coventry offered.
“No, the directions were to say
this rhyme,” Violet said:
Oh beautiful Swan!
Come to the shore precious one
Let me put this necklace on.
Don’t try to undo what I have
done
Take flight, be gone
Let the necklace send cell signals
hither and yon
And let Jovian and girl be one!
“Let’s try some bread,” Coventry
said.
***
The swan must have let hunger
overcome her caution, though
her mate called out a warning. She
thrashed about but the girls were
motivated. She flew off. The slipknotted
necklace of carefully strung
hematite, quartz, lodestone and
mica on the metal wire was securely
around her neck.
“Try it,” Violet said.
“I got bars!” Coventry marveled,
looking at her cell screen. “We did
it! How many other girls made necklaces,
you think?”
“Just let them try to stop us now,”
Violet said, with a smug smile.
“I’m gonna tell everyone. We can
sell these!” Coventry was texting
away at full speed.
“You won’t get very far with just
one swan. If she isn’t flying nearby,
all those messages will be stuck in
your outgoing.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot. We’ll have to
go back to the playground and actually
talk to them, like, in person.”
***
A few weeks later the girls’ mothers
had an afternoon date. Jody Lipshutz
and Merrie Tooner were finishing
high tea. Jody’s great estate
ISSUE 53
had white peeling columns. Dust
danced in the sunlight shafts from
windows that had needed washing
five years ago.
“Duty calls,” Jody said, leaving
the table and the crumpet crumbs
for the rats. The two donned English
hunting hats. Merrie coughed from
the mothball smell. They unlocked
the gun cabinet and strode out
across Jody’s poppy plantation.
BLAM! BLAM!
“Darn it! Missed again,” Merrie
said, reloading her double-barreled
shotgun. It had been over a week
since open season was declared on
the cell tower birds. Many hunters
and even amateurs were enticed by
the bounties offered.
“Do you think that was one of
them?” Jody picked up her dropped
shotgun. She plugged her ears
whenever Merrie took a shot.
“Can’t see the necklaces from
this distance. My motto is, shoot
first, check later,” Merrie said.
“It’s a little bit funny,” Jody said.
“When Covie came home with wads
of cash, I didn’t question, and now
here we are, trying to undo what
she did.”
“Is that dirt in that barrel?” Merrie
looked at Jody’s gun.
“Oh, dear. I guess we’ll have to
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