Belladonna : A dark academia flash fiction

She put down the laminated 90’s textbook on Lagrangian Cosmology on her lilac
woodchipped desk which she had painted herself, Gizmo the white ball python curled under
his cave hut. Must remember to COLLECT RATS underlined several times she jotted down
on her post-it, food for Gizmo. Well, if it’s not very good and I have issues as they say there is absolutely no point in me
having snuck into the department ground floor at 5am. No, their security was non-existent
and the CCTV wasn’t working (something surely they shouldn’t have been advertising) . The
adrenaline rush was lacking lasers from that film with Catherine Zeta, and she was dressed
in jeans. The backlights from keyboard changed neon colours purple and green, this could
have been one of those over published ‘dark academia’ novels alas there was no morally
grey character and fictitious disease as a research agenda with a trust fund funding her
research she had to submit her grant applications in time for the deadline. Freedom is a
myth we’re always adhering to some form of socially imposed invisible prison paying taxes,
going to work, editing your thesis because your supervisor wanted to show of his skin editing
techniques on a new computer model which meant scrapping data collection she already did
for the most part. Juvenile , but she couldn’t help but think that what exists are degrees of
freedom and this was further reinforced by her situation.

Yes,she was living for other people and she had the concoction next to her in a tiny petri dish
sealed with transparent tape labelled Gizmo in shiny black ink. Faculty social later I could
slip this in his water. Her Professor always had a lukewarm glass of water before his main
meal or snack. For digestion he would assert. An ice cold breeze that could have had white
nails and blue claws brushed up her arm caused a shiver up her chest and face. She
managed to secure a rural property by the river with a wooden spiral staircase attached to
the side of the window with a trellis running along it once she began her project and moved
here two years ago, but things had dragged. The project would be abandoned and she could
start living for herself again. That’s all it took. Not exactly top botanists. She'd kill the trellises
shortly after the event using pesticide and wash it down with the hose, not exactly
sophisticated but most effective plans don’t need to be. Bella Donna indeed, night, night
Professor.