'Antigross at the Book Company 2115' by Cathy Bryant

Gray sat at his new desk and waited to start his new job. His new boss Chris said the scripts are here. Say yes to the good and no to the gross. Lots of gross not lots of good. She smiled at Gray. Gray said yes and smiled too. It was hard for him. But it was good to have a job. He would work hard at the hard stuff and say yes to really really good scripts.

At first he was seeing verse. Verse is rap onscreen. Gray held a script and saw it.

i love her

shes like really really like good

but she dont love me

she loves a man not me

hes not good

hes so not good hes gross

like really really like gross

really really like gross

ungood and gross

ungood

i love her

Gray liked it. Been there he said to himself. The verse was good. But had Gray seen a verse like this before. Yes. Other versers had said it in other verses.

Gray sent back this:

Soz no can do. It was really really good tho. Try us next time.

The next script said

The melons are red inside like blood

with cancer pips of black.

My arm hurts as I try

to pick up a melon.

My arm is cancer, like the way

the melon looks. But the melon

isn't really cancer.

I am, tho.

The melon is sweet and good.

I'm not and I will die.

WTF said Gray to himself. No one could see all those words. What was melon. What is sweet. And why the big letters and the mark in the middle of the bit that said I am tho and after she said cancer in the middle. Gray had a Nglish Ba and if he dint get it then no one could. WTF was it saying. It was not good. So so not good. Gross. What he sent back dint say try us next time.

Seen good verse said Chris at lunch. No said Gray. Some OK but not really good. Good said Chris. Your doing good. Lots of newbies like all the verse.

Then Gray read stories. Some were good and some were OK and some were gross.

There was one that stayed in his head.

Ade met Shirl in a park. He said fuck. She said no. He said you church. She said no but Im good. Ade said good can fuck. She said yes good can fuck. And I fuck. But not you. You are ugly and you smell.

Gray laughed for a long time. It was really really funny and good. It was all really funny and good for a long time and was lots long. It was 35 pages.

Gray took it to Chris.

We have to take this he said.

Yes she said. You did really good Gray. Your first bestseller.

Gray felt really really really good. The job was good and he was good at the job. He took stories and verse and people would like them lots. It was like art and school. People would read this and to read is good. His life was full of good. So good that it was like the antigross.