April 2, 2023

So Many

By Ben Roth

Photo credit: Camila Damásio and Lum3n.

We’re sitting on the stoop late one afternoon when a guy walks by with a dog.

“Look at this asshole,” my friend says to me.

I look at him, and then at my friend, puzzled. “Why’s he an asshole?”

“Walking? With a dog like that? Asshole.”

After a while, another guy walks by.

“Look at this asshole,” my friend says again.

“What?”

“Walking like that? Without a dog?”

We sit for a minute, the sun slowly falling toward the horizon.

“So many assholes out today,” my friend says to me.

I wait a beat before responding: “Tell me about it.”

About the Author

Ben Roth teaches philosophy and writing at Tufts and Harvard. His fiction has been published by Nanoism, Flash, Blink-Ink, Sci Phi Journal, Aesthetics for Birds, Cuento Magazine, 101 Words, decomp journal, Bodega Magazine, Gambling the Aisle, Sensitive Skin, and Euphony, and his criticism by Chicago Review, AGNI Online, 3:AM Magazine, The Millions, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

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