Bill Ectric

I Married A Euglena



Posted: Monday, January 03, 2005

by
Billectric

It was a marriage of convenience. They were trying to deport this giant mutant euglena which I happened to know from a troup of improv vampire performers at the goth club Fangeely's.

A euglena is a single-celled freshwater organism marked by the presence of chlorophyll, a reddish eyespot, and one anterior flagellum. But that's not why I married it.

You see, this euglena, who I shall refer to as Gremamine, was in danger of being deported. Most euglenas move around freely without hassle because they are so small, but Gremamine was doused with radio-active Miracle Grow and ended up about 5 foot three inches, not counting the whip.

Ah, the memories. Rolling in the swimming pool, the bath tub, and the Jacuzzi and limited only by our imaginations and the chlorine levels.

Then it happened. I came home early from work and found Gremamine flogging a venus fly trap with its flagellum! The shock...the heartbreak...

The fly trap's maw undulated as it hissed, "More! More!" in tones not audible to the human ear. Waves of invisible plasma emanated outward from the two plant lovers, filling the room with a ripe vegetable smell.

I ran. Ran as fast as I could and never looked back.

Now I've settled into a small bungalow and share the rent & utilities with a couple of small palm trees. I rarely go out.

-- by Bill Ectric

Bill Ectric likes to erase the line between science and mysticism. He is the author of Tamper, a coming-of-age novel about a young man obsessed by unexplained mysteries. Bill's interview with legendary jazz musician David Amram is featured in the LitKicks book, Beats in Time: A Literary Generation's Legacy .

On the web, Bill's work has appeared on Literary Kicks, Candlelight Stories, Red Fez, Empty Mirror Books, Mystery Island, The Beat, Syntax of Things, Dogmatica, and Lit Up Magazine.

Bill appears as a commentator in the Steve Aylett film, Lint, the Movie .

He lives with his wife in Jacksonville , Florida . By day, when not writing, Bill mows the lawn and complains about the heat. By night, he sneaks around in the back yard, convinced that the garden gnomes are "up to something."

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