My favorite category on Wheel of Fortune is "Before and After". I mention this to Imaginary Friend 1 on the boardwalk but they don't seem to care. Imaginary Friend 2 says they're bleeding in weird places and this all seems familiar to me.

One swan boat to hell, please, Imaginary Friend 2 says while we wait at the ticket booth. He chuckles. Did I mention he's a robot? He always has to be carried and he's insecure about his small arms. The other is named after a bird and has a vendetta against people who aggressively say "thank you".

A cop as underwitted as an egg stares us down. Like he's never seen two imaginary robot friends who often get mistaken for puppets. I point a finger gun at the cop but he doesn't seem to react. 

Guess he had a little too much death ray.

Arielle Tipa is a writer who lives near a haunted lake in New York. He work has appeared in Grimoire, Millennial Pink, among others, and is forthcoming in Ache and Dream Pop Press. She is the founding editor of Occulum.