Brett Pribble
The Anglerfish Hears Dolly Parton
The foremost spine of the dorsal fin lurches from its head to seduce smaller fishes with something fleshy and luminous and wholly different from this deep-sea devel, bait. It drifts through the arcane. In the bottom of the ocean, giant squids clutch sunken ships, and the skeletons of mermaids are sprinkled on ancient stones.
There is no light. Only shadow pervades as this gilled-grim reaper hunts its prey. A pelagic crustacean floats to its glowing decoy. The anglerfish’s giant fangs open, and in the distance, a melody pierces the darkness like an invisible light. Slowly—sublimely—words materialize—a woman begging another woman—Jolene—not to steal her man.
The anglerfish closes in on its victim, but the plea to the woman with flaming locks of auburn hair holts its jaws from impaling the target. It swims in circles. Lyrics of love lost drift into the sac-like chambers of its long, muscular heart. The Anglerfish allows its prey to escape. No longer hunting, it swims back into the gloom, searching for a mate.
Brett Pribble’s work has appeared in Aquifer: The Florida Review Online, decomP, Stirring: A Literary Collection, Saw Palm, The Molotov Cocktail, Five on the Fifth, Maudlin House, Bending Genres, Bright Flash Literary Review, and other places. He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Ghost Parachute. Follow him on Instagram/X/Bluesky @brettpribble.
