Barbara Long Bishop
Bio
Barbara Bishop is a career educator - a teacher and teacher of teachers, writing just for fun. She and her husband (an actual writer) live in Newnan, GA with their five children.
Stories (2)
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Old Pig
The pig in the old run-down barn had been there for nearly a decade. Blind, disoriented and loud, the old pig had lost all sense of even pig-like composure and knew only to frantically root and gruff throughout his dirty space to find whatever residual food he might have missed in his initial search. I found his behavior disturbing, and as a result I tried to limit my daily interaction with him to the basic necessity of a quick throw-by of slop into his trough. He was alone in the barn - save those creatures that typically find their way into the crevices of wood, dirt, and hay. All things knew to allow the pig a wide berth. A generation of roaches had evolved to recognize the pig as enemy number one since he was just as happy munching on them as he would an apple core or hot dog scrap. Each evening as I approached the barn door, I felt a mixture of disgust and awe. He was an oozing blob, riddled with sores and scars, yet his devouring presence demanded my gaze. I could not look away from this complete embodiment of consumption, and his awareness of me as the supplier of all needs gave me a momentary elevation of status. In these visits, I was the only solution to his sole purpose for existence.
By Barbara Long Bishop5 years ago in Fiction
Getting Ahead
I. I expected a foul, reeking combination of blood and spinal fluid (or at least what I imagined spinal fluid would smell like. Kind of rusty, maybe?). But my senses were still foggy, so all I could smell was an aggressive bleach - which I assume was someone's polite attempt to replace something I shouldn't try to imagine. It's strange that I spent my first few seconds back from things assessing the air quality when I was so obviously without the luxury of leisurely sniffing out my surroundings. There were clearly more pressing matters at hand.
By Barbara Long Bishop5 years ago in Fiction
