ABSURDIS EXTREME // Case Study #20,913,067 [12/12/2024] by B.A. Loney

Adam Ant was crawling along a Möbius strip in the hopes of bumping into August or Johann—you know, to get their autographs and maybe even a selfie. The other ants hadn’t the heart to tell Adam Ant that this was unlikely to happen as his two favourite German mathematicians were long dead.

It was an arduous journey, but Adam Ant didn’t falter. He wholeheartedly believed that every new turn brings a fresh hope, so he went ahead carrying a grain of sugar, his gift to the geniuses he would never find. (All geniuses have a sweet tooth, you know. Glucose nourishes the brain.)

While it goes without saying that he never reached his intended goal, it should go with saying that somebody else did reach him. You see, Eve Ant was crawling along the Möbius strip from the other direction. Some would call it fate that their paths crossed. Others would call it inevitable because what other direction was she going to go in? Well, maybe in the same direction as Adam Ant but then they never would have met at all. Or maybe inward but then neither of them were overly given to self reflection, what with being as shallow as an aquaphobic amoeba’s wading pool.

Anyway, encounter one another they did, and so Eve Ant immediately asked if there was a hotel nearby. You see, she was bone-tired (perhaps because her skeleton was on the outside and she’d been walking on it for so long) and just wanted a place to put her feet up for the night. Adam Ant wasn’t tired at all because he’d been rollerblading the whole way (oh, did we fail to mention this earlier?), but he did rather fancy the ampleness of Eve Ant’s abdomen so he thought he’d stick around to keep getting a sweet, sweet eyeful.

So, Adam Ant took Eve Ant by the elbow (like a real gentleman) and escorted her right to the door of a nearby hotel. He even helped lug her luggage (that’s how much he was impressed with her abdomen). And, what’s more, he payed for the most expensive room for one night, and was so classy that he didn’t sleep in the giant, luxury double bed with her. That’s right, Adam Ant slept out on the giant, luxury double couch instead. Naturally, Eve Ant was so impressed by all of this that she found herself wishing she hadn’t torn off her wings and become queen of another colony already.

But, truth be told, Eve Ant had absconded from her duties as breeder and matriarch months ago. There was so much more to life than popping out millions of eggs until she resembled a desiccated ball sack. She wanted to see the world! And perhaps Adam Ant was the one she could share this dream with. Perhaps he wouldn’t even mind so much that she was no longer a virgin (didn’t some men like older, more experienced women anyway?).

As it happened, Adam Ant was desperate to have Eve Ant stick around (so he could goggle at her abdomen some more), so he invited her to sit at the edge of the Möbius strip with him awhile. Eve Ant was giddy with delight, and they romantically dangled their legs, ate from Adam Ant’s grain of sugar, and gazed at the stars. Their compound eyes were full of love hearts for each other an—

Somebody sprinkled dichlorvos on them and they died.

Adam Ant

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

GUEST POST // ‘Til Heartbeats Meet by Fiery

I whispered you a sweet goodnight
And hoped my breath would kiss you right
I hugged myself and touched your dreams
Penned poetry in golden reams
And though I can’t sleep in your arms
And wrap my heart in all your charms
I gift to you my verses sweet
Let’s sleep in love
‘Til heartbeats meet.

by FIERY
© All rights reserved 2019

cutie-pie

4oz salted curiosity
softened at room temperature…

love’s a recipe
for pie to be sliced and et
yeah, screw the waistline

2oz stealthy effervescent looks…

i could refuse it
or have one heavenly piece
two or even three

2 free-range thoughts lightly beaten…

i wanna eat what i may
i wanna love who i love
i wanna feed my lovetooth

4oz self-raising affection…

the choice must be mine
none can force me to partake
to gorge less or more

1 tsp dreams extract…

come away with me
feast across life’s smorgasbord
this banquet is free

a few drops courage…

i wanna eat who i may
i wanna love what i love
i wanna feed my lovetooth

4oz sugar puff lips…

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2018

Oops!… We Did It Again (cease fire)

Erm… hullo there. (This is rather awkward…)

Dear Reader, the stuff that was originally posted here has been removed.

We have done this because said stuff has since been included in one of our published books. We hope you’ll believe us when we say we’re not trying to be stingy. No, this has been done to honour the people who have already spent their hard-earned money on our eBook creations.*

If, however, for some reason you’re unable to buy one of our books, and feel you’ll die without seeing this piece of writing, then please contact us via admin@unbolt.me. We won’t allow our Dear Readers to fade away in the dark. We’ll send you the piece in question, and it will be absolutely free. All you need do is ask.

* Of course, we would be like two happy puppies if you too decided to buy one of our books.

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2018

EARS WIDE OPEN // bussed & buzzed (liplocked)

We wouldn’t be going against our hearts to say that we wrote this one as lyrics for another sappy and silly love song. We even tried to create a melody, and Tony almost had the cheek to sing to it. Alas, we’re much better singers and musicians in our heads than we are in actual recordings. And, quite frankly, we’d have to wait until Hell turned into a winter wonderland before any famous recording companies began a bidding war for this potential… erm… ‘hit’. (Will Rihanna be pushing Beyoncé aside to perform with us any time soon? Probably no.)

Anyway, common sense prevailed, and Tony did his best reading instead. Yes, he mustered as much heart and feeling as he could, and all to the accompaniment of a wonderful track by Kai Engel of the Free Music Archive. This poem is based on a real event that holds special significance for the two authors. Perhaps you, Dear Reader, will also be able to make it your own as you reflect on your loves, both past and present.

bussed & buzzed (liplocked)

we kissed on a jetty high above the fishes
where warm swells loll in gentle squishes
where sundog sprawls over planks like a cat
and morn’s dew hangs tight like an acrobat

we kissed on a jetty ramshackle and treen
where birds chirp loud in kerfuffle and preen
where air tangs the nose, spicy and salted
and time’s put on hold, stately and vaulted

sometimes dreams do come true
sometimes no
sometimes love says to you “adieu”
sometimes “hello”

we kissed on a jetty ’tween shanties bareheaded
where moorings in summer are a web of ropes threaded
where jong-jong gently knock wood together
and pair to wrest free from seabed’s tether

we kissed on a jetty scalloped and shelled
where stormwater drains acapella and meld
where the sun swings low beyond the equator
and nestles sleepily in an extinct crater

sometimes dreams do come true
sometimes no
sometimes love will gift a horseshoe
sometimes a blow

we kissed on a jetty ’neath stars’ cutting swathe
where moonglade outlasts nude lantern’s bathe
where anemones bloom below neptune’s throne
and crabs sleep like heirs under mossy stone

we kissed on a jetty at the mouth of time’s flow
where the days are real quick and the nights are real slow
where ardour pulses through the veins of conviction
and temptation receives cupid’s benediction

sometimes dreams do come true
sometimes no
sometimes love colours you blue
sometimes yellow

Text by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
Audio by KAI ENGEL & TONY SINGLE
Image by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2018