The Shallow Man

Genre: Slice Of Life, Contemporary Fiction

Eddy Taylor wrote The Shallow Man in the autumn of 2022 as an examination and exploration of his first months at university and the ‘freshers’ culture. Taking place in the earlier hours of the morning after a night on the town, the story explores male sexual anxiety and the role of alcohol in young men’s lives.

Preview

How can a reflection be so lonely? A stranger’s bathroom probably isn’t the place to have thoughts like this and yet here I am. Stood, naked in a place so familiar and yet foreign to me. The sweat peels off my brow keeping rhythm with my breath and I can hear hers from outside. I turn the tap and splash the cold water over my head, hoping to snap myself out of the moment. It never works but it is a mechanical act, one I’ve repeated dozens of times before, I trace the cold water over my ears and nose, through my hair and blink. The stranger still stares back at me. The person has gone from my body, and I am left with the skin that does not fade; the animal is all that remains. I can note every imperfection from the broken nose, the cauliflower ears, the neck bent over years of looking down at people to the muscle and acne. It is a view I cannot enjoy, always looking half finished, slightly deformed by puberty and childish stupidity. It is a piece of meat left out so long in the sun the flies have taken over, a rough and grim thing to discard.