Coleman Bigelow: Because at Least We Drink Fresh Roast • Cleaver Magazine

Flash by Coleman Bigelow
BECAUSE AT LEAST WE DRINK FRESH ROAST

When we first dropped out of design school, coffee was our everything—the intoxicating grounds providing just the jittering jolt our imaginations required. Each sip sending us bareback on burros ascending through dripping cloud forests—our machetes hacking a path to the perfect bean. We soon discovered the best way to fuel our fix was by becoming the baristas ourselves. So, we claimed our destiny and committed to serving the world its next caffeinated masterpiece.

But now, our only notable creation is our heart-shaped latte art. So, we tear out of that Java Shack in our broken-down Bugs and rusting Rabbits and high-tail it to the bar to nab the best corner stools. With our Pabst Blue Ribbons and Beam chasers secured, we soak in the smoky dim and put on Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash. And, when the place fills up, we switch to Sexual Healing and sway between the pool tables, sticks in hand—praying for some virgin competition. Hoping for some freshly inked cleavage to pour out over our polished cues. For the explosive clack of balls to inspire another blissful collision. Some nights we lasso fun and other nights we leave untethered. And some nights, when we can no longer drive, we stumble through the neighborhoods we never escaped.

Occasionally, we crash parties over in “normaltown”, where our weary-eyed former classmates have picket-fenced themselves into a world of screaming babies and inflatable lawn ornaments. We drain whatever’s left of their makeshift kitchen bars, and we snicker at their magnet affirmations and spin their coffee capsule carousels and stare and stare at their unholy Keurigs. And we judge them. Oh God, how we judge them.

Coleman Bigelow’s work has appeared recently, or is upcoming, in BULL, Bending Genres, Cease, Cows, Flash Boulevard, Ghost Parachute and Gooseberry Pie Lit. His first first flash fiction collection: “In Rare Cases & Other Unfortunate Circumstances” was published in 2023. Find more at: www.colemanbigelow.com or follow him on Instagram @cbigswrites and Bluesky @cbigs.bsky.social.