Neon City

by Mia Dalia

About the Author: Mia Dalia's short fiction has been published by Night Terror Novels, 50 word stories, Flash Fiction Magazine, Pyre Magazine, and Tales from the Moonlit Path. Her fiction will be featured in the upcoming anthologies by Sunbury Press, HellBound Press, Dead Sea Press, and Dragon Roost Press. Her debut novel, Estate Sale, will be out in March 2023.

Excerpt

“This city, I swear, it gets more illumination from all the neon than from the sun itself,” she says as she pulls down the blinds.

I can’t disagree, except that I like all the neon. Like the way it makes everything look ever so slightly surreal. 

The all-night pawn shop across the street, the pizza joint below me, the Edward Hopper-esque cafe on the corner—all make sure I never have to face my demons in the dark. And I do get a lot of them—demons.

Some say it’s PTSD, but that seems to imply that on some level I have moved on past the trauma when in truth it’s still very much with me. In every thought, in every nightmare. Every time my old bullet wounds groan to the rain.

The woman before me, the one who dislikes neon light, she’s a demon too, after a fashion. I’ve known her kind over the years. This neon city is full of them. The ones who’ll never talk to you in a bar—who won’t go to the bars you go to. She’s beautiful but far from pure; I’d bet behind her oversized shades are eyes that have seen things. 

When she takes her sunglasses off, I can see that I was right. Her eyes are grey, the color of the smoke swirling above smokers’ heads like strange halos. She gives me a look—that look—takes me in, sums up my worth.

I know I’m easy to figure. A cliché, really. Got chewed up and spit out by the army, didn’t have the temperament for police work, so here I am—just another private detective. Cheaper than most, less selective than most too.

Story Comments