Rattling by Kolby Diaz
He cuts the meat deep around the anus . Frees up the colon .
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This is all standard .
Steel whispers through ruby red flesh . Down to the bone . The ridge of the pelvis is exposed ; he removes that with a bone saw , careful not to nick the urethra and spill piss everywhere , the metal teeth gnaw through foaming white bits until there is complete separation . A cut up and down the length of the body from the sternum . Once he loosens the organs from the inner wall , the carcass turns into something akin to a half peanut shell full of marmalade , a bowl of Jell-O . He grabs the severed windpipe up top and slides the guts down and out the gate he fashioned from the deer ’ s ass .
A grayish pink and purple mess splats red on a rock beneath him .
The sky goes dark , and the way back to camp is a long one , so he quarters the body , packs the meat in pieces , and rolls up the hide . The fur is worth shit but he ’ s only a few skins away from making the leather jacket he ’ s been building toward . A mile ascent out of the valley and into the dense woods with a pack at least one hundred pounds strapped to his back . The shapes of smooth ball sockets bulging beneath breathable gray mesh peek and bounce from the partially open mouth of the bag . At times , the climb is very steep , and his stomach flutters as