Corporate (a double drabble)

       “We work hard and we play hard,” they said when they hired you. But they never stop the game. You sit in your square until long past quitting time.

       You waited for that position, even slept with the head of the department. A move that worked for others, but you can only move horizontally or is it not at all? They hired a recent graduate with a model body. Everyone was delighted.

       When your boss turns from his computer he has the face of Anubis.

       They fired Ruth in accounting. The next day the break room was painted with swastikas. Work hard, they said, play hard, but you haven’t the talent for this game. Leave the office. The sky is filled with dragons. You can feel their hot breath as they glide slowly overhead. The buildings undulate like sea grass.

       This city was a neon starfish when you arrived. You climb a ladder of windows, scale the rippling glass. You see it for what it is now. Checkered, and you a faceless pawn. Below you the serpents hiss from the dungeon.

       Fly now. You will see the sun set between buildings. See its glint between the bars of your cage.