Reading: "Rituals of the Antithetical" from the novel Rituals of the Antithetical (A.Glass 2023). *I will be doing a reading every 3 weeks from my current book 'Rituals of the Antithetical'. I have a new book due at some point in the future.*

 

Tying her hair back into a ponytail, she walks towards the television, as a news report begins. Suddenly the phone rings again. Quickly walking to the galley kitchen, she leans over the edge of the pine bench top. Lifting up the phone.
“Hello?...Hey! How are you?…” Pinning the phone under her left shoulder with her cheek, she checks her nails, admiring the dark red nail polish. “...Drinks? No…” She lowers her voice. “...Movie night, taking the kid’s and Trevor’s friend to see Flash Gordon. When did you fly in?...” She walks around to where she was sitting before, looking over her appearance in the reflection of the kitchen window. The woman checks her watch again. “...I’ll give you a call later on. Where are you at?...Alright...” With her right hand she writes down a phone number. “...Speak to you later.” Placing the phone onto the receiver, as her two children enter the kitchen area.
“Ok, ready?...”
They both nod.
“...Trevor, turn the tele off!” She orders, as her son runs over to the television, as the news report continues.
"...It has been three years since the WOW signal was first received, confirmed by scientists that it is in fact an actual Alien signal, as it was deciphered a year later that a code within the signal indicates that another signal will be received this year in Nineteen Eighty One..."
 The woman’s son turns off the television, as they walk towards the front door.

Later that evening.

Sandra McAllen after returning home from the movie and putting her children to bed, including Trevor’s friend D’adri, sits in front on the television. Staring down at her nails again, she then glances at the news report.
“...President Reagan has ordered U.S. Special Forces to enter Mexico City airport in an operation, called Eternal Fury. As it was discovered that the Terrorist Doomsday cult responsible for the Hilton bombing in Los Angeles last year which killed Fifty Five people, has been using the airport as a base of their operations. Apparently unpronounced to the Mexican government. From drug trafficking, kidnapping, people smuggling and murder, the cult known as Disciples of Totec stepped over the line when three American tourists were brutally killed by the group early this year…”
Sandra switches the channel to the new music station MTV, turning down the volume. She walks towards her bedroom, pausing where her son’s room is, where his friend is also sleeping over. She hears no sounds. Entering her room, turning on the light, she crouches to her knees, with her right hand, lifting out a magazine from under the bed. Standing, she walks back to the lounge area, flicking off the light switch with her left index finger. Closing the lounge room door to the McAllen’s hallway, she sits back down onto the couch. Placing the magazine onto her lap. Looking over the title and article subtitles.
“PENTHOUSE” dated July, Nineteen Eighty One. Studying the cover of a woman wearing a gold colored bikini, her head down, shielded by a dark blue visor, with her left hand resting on her pelvis. Sandra glances over the subheadings.
“THE ALIEN SIGNAL: DOES IT CHANGE ANYTHING?”
“AMERICA’S NEW ELITE. YOUNG, RICH AND DRUG ADDICTED”
She opens the magazine, avoiding the pages of ads and articles, to where the nude and explicit photographs are portrayed. With the magazine balancing on her knees, Sandra reaches forward and lifts the glass of red wine from the coffee table in front of her, having a sip whilst eyeing the images of a dark haired woman lying back onto a fur covering, her legs spread, revealing her exposed vagina, with a mound of dark pubic hairs atop.
“Those tan lines...” She remarks to her self smiling, looking over the accompanying photos, all showing women in various positions exposing their vaginas. Sandra feels herself begin to pulsate in and around her own vagina. With her right index finger and thumb she pulls down the edge of her pants, so that her knickers are showing.
“...And no tan lines. The benefits of a private patio.” Referring to the McAllen’s outside en suite wooden paved patio connected to their lounge room. Placing the glass of wine back down onto its coaster, she flicks through the other pages, stopping at a photo spread of a blond woman leaning against a sauna wall, eyes closed, with her right index finger resting on her clitoral hood. Sandra astutely looks at the model’s exposed Labia and her light brown pubic hairs. Closing the magazine and flipping the cover over, she places to the left side. Sitting back onto the couch, she stairs at the television, with its volume turned down. Suddenly there is a phone call. She quickly makes her way to the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey darling, still in L.A., hope to fly back tomorrow afternoon. I’ll let you know the flight details on that morning.”
“Having fun?” She asks, aware that her husband is away on a business trip, turning around looking at the half finished glass of wine sitting on the coffee table.
“Two meetings to go, boring finance stuff. You wanna hear?”
“Nope...” she replies in a sarcastic manner.
“See, I thought you’d be interested.”
“...Weather good?”
“Hot, really hot...”
“Coolish here...” Sandra replies, looking at her nails, her mind begins to wander.
“Oh also, I picked up the new Sanyo Betamax video recorder duty free when I was in Japan, should be delivered tomorrow, hopefully after I arrive. Still ok to pick me up from the airport?”
“Penciled in. I’ll use your BMW. Just let me know your arrival details.”
“Will do, speak to you tomorrow morning.”
“Ok bye,” she says, as the call is ended. Gently placing the phone down onto its receiver, she eyes the number she took down earlier in the evening, still written onto the pad by the phone. Lifting up the phone, pressing it to her left ear, she makes the call.
“Hello?”
“Hey Peter, it’s Sandra. You wanna come over?”
“Thought you’d never ask. Absolutely.”
“Great! Have wine.”
“See you soon.”
“Look forward to seeing you.”
She ends the call, smiling. Placing her right hand onto her pelvis.
“Can’t wait to fuck him,” she says quietly to herself. 
___
Reading:  "Rituals of the Antithetical" from RITUALS of the ANTITHETICAL (A.Glass 2023)