The Butt-Thing

a very short story by Joshua Brown references to sexual violence and gore I broke my brain. Six thousand years of brain evolution and I was smashing my head violently against an oak table. Twenty seven years of education, experiences, and insights bludgeoned over and over, a self-flagellation with mystical religious intent. No blood came out. I was just as wooden as the table. In the attic of the house were three boxes containing a history of all the records the Taxation Army demanded. Page after page detailed transactions between consenting adults proving the amount the Taxation Army was legally allowed to tear from my fingers. But that wasn't why I was slamming my head into the dead tree in my parent's dining room. Instead I was taped to the ceiling. I was wearing a three button suit and a tie, my white shirt was stained on the collar, deeply stained from sweat. My tie was brown with gray elephants marching in neat rows. I had just woken up from a deep sleep i