Distorte is a collection of stories written by Pierce Gleeson

Archives Contact

Cormac McCarthy has Breakfast

He takes three oranges from the bowl on the counter and slices each of them in two and mashes the halves against the edge of the juicer until they are dry and picks up the glass beneath the juicer and drinks the juice and the pulp in one long draw, mashing the solids between his teeth before swallowing.

He then scalds the coffee jar and opens the fridge and takes out a packet of coffee and finds a spoon and spoons two loads of grounds into the bottom of the jar and fills it with boiling water from the kettle and puts the lid on the top with the plunger distended and wraps a kitchen towel around the glass and leaves it sitting on the counter.

He opens the fridge again and takes out two eggs and butter from the door and peels three slices of bacon onto a plate and puts it all beside the stove. He finds the skillet in the press below the sink and puts it on the ring of the stove and cuts away a knob of butter and waits for the metal to heat before scraping the butter from the knife into the pan. He picks up the eggs and breaks each one into the butter and lays the strips of bacon in the spaces around the eggs and stands over the pan moving it occasionally. He takes two slices of bread from the bread board and pushes them into the toaster and pushes the plunger on the coffee and turns the bacon.

He takes out a plate and a cup and cutlery and arranges them on the table and lifts the pan off the heat and forks the food onto the plate and puts the pan in the sink to cool. He pours the coffee into the cup and sits at the table and eats the toast and the bacon and the eggs and drinks the coffee.

When he is finished he puts the plate into the sink and drinks a glass of water from the tap and washes the dishes and the pan and leaves them to drain on the draining board and walks out of the kitchen.

Written by Pierce Gleeson
Posted on the 04 Oct, 2007

^