Tessellation by Santino Prinzi

I want to finish the puzzle but there’s a piece missing. I’ve made my own, trying to force it where it doesn’t belong, bending the cardboard into this shape and that. I put one edge of the piece in my mouth and let my saliva swish and soak. I try again; something’s lacking. I wedge it in. Please stay in place, where I want you to belong. It’s not a perfect picture. Our pieces don’t fit together—I clutch onto yours. I’m not prepared to let go.

Santino Prinzi is an undergraduate student at Bath Spa University studying English Literature with Creative Writing. His flash fiction has been published both online and in print, including the 2014 National Flash Fiction Day AnthologyEating My Words, the 2015 National Flash Fiction Day AnthologyLandmarks,FlashFlood Journal,Short Story Sunday, and others. Check him out at www.tinoprinzi.wordpress.com.