{"id":7069,"date":"2025-12-31T23:43:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T07:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-a-very-sloppy-metaphor\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T23:43:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T07:43:16","slug":"12-days-of-xmas-a-very-sloppy-metaphor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-a-very-sloppy-metaphor\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Days of Xmas: A Very Sloppy Metaphor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sitting in an empty apartment on New Year’s Eve eating tacos dripping with hot sauce squeezed from branded sauce packets. Only a little inebriated, just enough that the fast food tacos seemed absolutely delicious.<\/p>\n

He took a bite and thought of the meme he’d seen before: "Every time I go to Taco Bell I get diarrhea." — "Me personally, I get tacos."<\/em><\/p>\n

It had made him laugh because he’d never had any trouble with Taco Bell food. The only thing better was when a Taco Bell was inside a KFC. A taco, a piece of chicken, and a cola were the trifecta of satisfaction. Mashed potatoes and gravy and a biscuit only made things that much better.<\/p>\n

He was alone but didn’t feel lonely. Not with a box full of tacos to eat and his favorite live-streamer to keep him company.<\/p>\n

The year had been a shitty one for nearly everyone he knew, but he had hope for the year ahead. Especially with his new favorite streamer promising to post more.<\/p>\n

It was a little thing, but it was a spark of hope. That even if the rest of the world went to hell in a handbasket, there would at least be a bit of fun to look forward to. That human nature would let someone find even the tiniest bit of enthusiasm to hold onto.<\/p>\n

The coming year might be horrible or it might be marvelous. Might be like a fast food taco or a gourmet taco. But the sauce would always be delicious.<\/p>\n

And if he was lucky, there might be metaphorical fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and maybe a biscuit with honey butter. Because life was always better dripping in hot sauce and with tasty sides to enjoy.<\/p>\n

"Happy New Year," he said, and took a big bite of another taco.<\/p>\n

=END=<\/p>\n

~Harper Kingsley<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/HarperKingsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/amazon.com\/shop\/harperkingsley0<\/a>.
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https:\/\/harperkingsley.bsky.social<\/a>.
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Sitting in an empty apartment on New Year’s Eve eating tacos dripping with hot sauce squeezed from branded sauce packets. Only a little inebriated, just enough that the fast food tacos seemed absolutely delicious. He took a bite and thought of the meme he’d seen before: "Every time I go to Taco Bell I get…<\/p>\n Read More<\/span> 12 Days of Xmas: A Very Sloppy Metaphor<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"Layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[916],"tags":[917,317,648],"class_list":["entry","author-harperkingsley0-0","post-7069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-12-days-of-xmas","tag-12-days-of-xmas","tag-fiction","tag-short-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2pPoL-1Q1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5676,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-a-value-of-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":7069,"position":0},"title":"12 Days of Xmas: A Value of You","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"January 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A VALUE OF YOU Before there was an Entemat, there had been a world of roses and light. That was how it was described: A place where everyone was free and nobody was forced into the forever hell of Contract Labor. That was the trick the companies played: Once a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Days of Xmas"","block_context":{"text":"12 Days of Xmas","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/12-days-of-xmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5671,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-resolutions-for-a-new-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":7069,"position":1},"title":"12 Days of Xmas: Resolutions For a New Year","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"December 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"RESOLUTIONS FOR A NEW YEAR There were the distant booms of fireworks but otherwise the house was silent. Curled up on the small bed, Tylar coughed into his hand. He'd been suffering from a cold for the last three days and had been forced to miss out on the New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Days of Xmas"","block_context":{"text":"12 Days of Xmas","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/12-days-of-xmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6850,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-the-6-inch-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":7069,"position":2},"title":"12 Days of Xmas: The 6-Inch Man","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"December 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The 6-Inch Man Waking up, Brendan thought at first that he'd been buried alive. He was covered in a layer of warm, nearly hot, softness that covered his entire body. He had to crawl and crawl until he was finally able to push his way out and draw in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Days of Xmas"","block_context":{"text":"12 Days of Xmas","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/12-days-of-xmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5662,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-a-once-mighty-wind\/","url_meta":{"origin":7069,"position":3},"title":"12 Days of Xmas: A Once Mighty Wind","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"December 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A ONCE MIGHTY WIND He'd felt like a god once. He'd walked the earth and been able to imagine it tremble beneath his boots. His voice had shaken the air and everyone had shown him nothing but awe. He was old now and feeling older everyday. His once mighty voice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Days of Xmas"","block_context":{"text":"12 Days of Xmas","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/12-days-of-xmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6670,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-eleanor\/","url_meta":{"origin":7069,"position":4},"title":"12 Days of Xmas: Eleanor","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"December 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"ELEANOR \"\ud83c\udfb6 Driving. Driving all night 'til the mornin' come. Wanna see my bed, but first I'mma see the sun. Wishin' you were here to whisper sweet things. Gonna close my eyes and visit you in my dreams.\ud83c\udfb6\" He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he sang to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Days of Xmas"","block_context":{"text":"12 Days of Xmas","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/12-days-of-xmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5670,"url":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/12-days-of-xmas-appetizer\/","url_meta":{"origin":7069,"position":5},"title":"12 Days of Xmas: Appetizer","author":"Harper Kingsley","date":"December 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"APPETIZER Passive aggressive. That's what he was at his core. Passive aggressive. Slamming things. Shaming people for liking things. Huffing and puffing and muttering to himself as a way to make the victims of his aggression feel bad. Telling himself that he was a good guy while he went out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "12 Days of Xmas"","block_context":{"text":"12 Days of Xmas","link":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/category\/12-days-of-xmas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7069\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harperkingsley.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}