Flash Fiction Collaboration*3

The Business Trip
By Daniel Padilla

She got out of bed, got dressed in a few seconds, and walked out the door without saying a word. The air in my cheap, murky motel room was still damp from that sweet and sour sweat—the remainder of a fervent yet transitory physical encounter between two miserable human beings. I sat up on the bed, still trying to catch my breath. I was already forgetting her. I couldn’t help it. All the things that I’d hoped her skin and her heat would help me forget slowly crawled back into my brain. No room for her in there. The old air conditioning system kicked in with a rusty, emphysemic hum that made me crave the cigarettes lying on the night stand next to me. The clerk had assigned me to a non-smoking room, but who the hell cared. I slid a cigarette out of the carton, placed it on my lips, and lit it with a long, slow drag. I held the smoke in, feeling it meticulously and irreparably tarring my lungs. Beautiful, I thought. Damn, she was beautiful. I exhaled, and the last thought I ever had of her vanished with the smoke before my eyes. The alarm clock on the night stand advised me that it was 3:00am. Only a few hours until I had to check out of this room, climb into the cold metal of my car, and drive back home in the gray morning fog. A two-hour drive for me to forget the hotel room and the cigarette’s I’d promised I wouldn’t smoke.​

Image by Nico Hsu

This is a collaboration project between my Honduran homie Daniel Padilla and I. The idea is for him to practice more writing and for me to practice digital art. The series don't really have any direction as for now. If you'd like to do any sort of collaboration with me on this blog please don't hesitate to contact me!