Mimetic Imperfections By Jonathan Dittman

The replicas drank blood like tea. Charlie’s replica even extended a pinky finger, poised in the civilized fashion downloaded from the streaming database of British dramas located on the CentraNet servers. The irony of the situation was apparent to the other replicas, and though they did not laugh, they were cognizant of how incongruent blood and tea were in terms of human consumption. The three of them sat around the table, right legs identically draped over the left, right index fingers looped through the smooth, ivory handles of the tea cups. Neatly stacked in a pile near the corner of the room were the three originals. Charlie’s replica raised the cup to its lips and let the red, metallic liquid pool in his mouth before the synthetic fibers triggered a compression of the rubberized esophagus and it swallowed. As the blood settled in its temporary containment box, the replica finally understood what it was to be human.

© 2014 Jonathan Dittman

Jonathan Dittman’s work has appeared in Creative Colloquy, thick jam and The Pitkin Review, and his essay on language and identity theory appears in the book collection “Perspectives on Percival Everett.” Jonathan received his MFA from Goddard College in Port Townsend, Washington. He lives in Minnesota with his wife and two children.

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