It is the second day of March, and today is our third CHROMOPHOBIA TOC showcase. Previous entries can be seen HERE and HERE. Hardcover pre-order link is at the bottom of the article!
Today’s story:
“Eat Your Colors”
by Sonora Taylor
Let’s take a look at an excerpt:
“Let’s make a deal with ourselves.” Angela held her hand towards the screen. “Let’s make a pact to our bodies, right here and right now, to eat our colors and bring a bright rainbow into our souls.”
“Sure, okay,” Eve said with a nod.
“Come on. Put your hand on the screen.”
“Why?”
“Because we can’t touch palms in person, silly!” Angela giggled, and Eve tried not to show her discomfort at how bubbly Angela was acting. She wanted professional advice, not silliness.
“Come on. It’ll be like a virtual pinky-swear to our bodies,” Angela prodded.
Fuck it, Eve thought, and placed her palm on the screen.
“Okay. Repeat after me,” Angela began. “I, Eve Middleton—”
“I, Eve Middleton—”
“Love my body so, so much.”
Eve hoped that Angela wasn’t recording this. “Love my body so, so much.”
“And I will add to its loveliness by eating my colors and helping it shine!”
“And I will add to its loveliness” —Eve held back a snort— “by eating my colors and helping it shine.”
Eve felt a shudder pulse through her body, one that made her twitch and remove her hand. The sensation soon became warmth.
“That was great,” Angela said with her brightest grin yet. “You’re great, Eve. I know you’ll feel amazing!”
Shades of Stephen King’s “Quitters, Inc” but in “Eat Your Colors,” Sonora Taylor takes a hard look at the diet industry, and fads that do more to harm than to help. Humorous and delightfully weird, Sonora allows a familiar dieting platitude to turn rather nasty. Technicolor body-horror, anyone?
Anyone interested in this story should be sure to check out Sonora’s official website HERE, and find out why Kealan Patrick Burke calls her “a bold and fearless voice in horror fiction.”
Like what we’ve shown you? You can pre-order the special hardcover edition of CHROMOPHOBIA from Rooster Republic HERE. A trade paperback edition will be made available in time for Halloween 2022.
Thanks for reading and, as always, thank you for the support!
