Nevada Suicide Prevention has previously appeared in Anti-Heroin Chic
Friends catch her by the shoulders
on the edge of a casino balcony,
drunk and reeling above gaggles of tourists.
Cocktails in hand, the revellers gaze:
first with curiosity, then malice.
Vulnerability brings out their sadism.
They point and laugh. She tries to
hurl her body into their upturned faces.
Hands steady her momentum, but only for a second.
She breaks free, bolts downstairs, darts between
the roulette tables and slot machines, runs
like she can never stop. And she can’t stop:
legs move by themselves, frantic pistons.
Nothing waits at home for a safe return. No job,
apartment or money, just the emptiness of flesh
and her mind, cluttered as the evening news.
A trip to Vegas for her twenty-third birthday.
So far, she hasn’t won a dime. Friends
signal the bartender for another round.
About The Author
Leah Mueller is an indie writer and spoken word performer from Bisbee, Arizona. Her most recent books, “Misguided Behavior, Tales of Poor Life Choices” (Czykmate Press), “Death and Heartbreak” (Weasel Press), and “Cocktails at Denny’s” (Alien Buddha ) were released in 2019. Leah’s work appears in Midway Journal, Citron Review, The Spectacle, Miracle Monocle, Outlook Springs, Atticus Review, Your Impossible Voice, and elsewhere. Her essay “Firebrand, The Radical Life and Times of Annie Besant” appears in the book, “Fierce, Essays By and About Dauntless Women” which placed first in the non-fiction division of the 2019 Publisher’s Weekly Booklife content.
Bandit Fiction is an entirely not-for-profit organisation ran by passionate volunteers. We do our best to keep costs low, but we rely on the support of our readers and followers to be able to do what we do. The best way to support us is by purchasing one of our back issues. All issues are ‘pay what you want’, and all money goes directly towards paying operational costs.
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