
The Lost Kingdom by Nick Black
Drew agreed to meet at the cinema
where he’s working now, if I
promised not to speak to any of his
colleagues or let anyone know I’m
his Dad.
I said, I’ll waive you in and find you before the…..
film starts.….****…….********************>
What about snacks? I said.
I described everything we sell over the phone.….*.
I made a joke. Who’d expect
pickled herring at the cinema?!
I put a box of popcorn on the seat between us.…*.
I asked “How’s your mother?”
This didn’t go down well.
I said, “Don’t talk to me about Mum”...*… *****.
So I ate some popcorn instead.
And he made a mess everywhere.**…*..**.******
“It’s popcorn! I’m dropping air!”
He wanted to talk through the ads, the trailers,….
so I said I had to speak to my manager about*…*.
something and went and stood in the lobby for….
as long as I thought I could get away with.*…*.**.
“Talking with the manager!” I said
when he came back. “Does he
want to promote you?”
He began talking about my job, because**….****
nothing I do is ever good enough*..***********.
My bright boy!
and had to remind me of my university*.*…****.
education, in case I haven’t thanked him…..****.
enough recently, even though that was….**..***.
mostly Mum’s money.***..**.*.*************..
This for some reason angered him
so I shut up. The film started. Boy,
it was loud! No wonder dinosaurs
didn’t have ears!
He leant over to yell that dinosaurs don’t have…
ears. They did, I whispered, they just weren’t*….
external, and somebody shushed me! I sat..**.*..
there, burning, he didn’t even notice,*.*.*****..
but when the prehistoric chickens came on**.*.
and he started clucking at the top of his voice….
“I’m just having a laugh!”
I was out of there, the old man calling “Drew!”…
at my back, the dinosaurs all roaring..**..*****.
Nick Black’s writing has been published in lit mags including Okay Donkey, Splonk, Lost Balloon, Ellipsis Zine and Jellyfish Review. His debut collection ‘Positive and Negative’ was published by Ad Hoc Fiction in 2022.
Positive and Negative by Nick Black is available to purchase in the FFF Bookshop here!
Photo by Justin Clark on Unsplash
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