When I Woke Up is an abstract fiction strip. It’s abstract, which basically translates to “odd” or “weird”. And it’s a fiction strip. “Fiction” because well, it’s fiction. “Strip” because it’s like a comic strip, only it’s prose. Abstract fiction strip. You see!

I wrote and published When I Woke Up over a course of 1-2 years, somewhere in the neighborhood of 2006. I wrote it concurrently with The Sky Was Full of Fish and Robert Wilson and the Refrigerator of Doom. It was a productive time for me; I was in therapy and I used the writing as additional therapy. This is particularly true of When I Woke Up.

The episodes are short; find a title that grabs you and check it out. You can read them in any order.

1. I Need
2. My Mirror Is a Stargazer
3. Violence Towards Coffee
4. Meaningless Absence
5. Flow
6. The Downstairs Couch
7. And So You Sit There
8. You Can’t Go It Alone
9. No Pants
10. I Want
11. Behind the Wheel
12. The Silence Is Tragic
13. I Can Explain Everything
14. Tribe
15. Robotic Pet
16. A Walk to the Store
17. The Compelling Abomination
18. Twins
19. Hentai House
20. I Want It Right There
21. Ideas on Spikes
22. Quiche
23. Cookies
24. The Parable of the Kitten on the Road
25. Failure
26. Spectacle
27. Vase
29. Oceans
30. Passenger
31. Rabbits
32. Armchair
33. Thinking of You
34. Zebra Hide Butter
35. I Can, I Will
36. Cereal
37. Can You Let Me
38. Ritual
39. Minibus
40. Shitting Maggots
41. The Upstairs Room
42. The Groodle Bird
43. Silly
44. Face
45. The Goatherd
46. It’s Not About Kidneys
47. Mayo Shavings
48. Telling
49. 499 psi
50. The Radio Rodeo
51. When I Play Your Games
52. A Moving Read
53. Fuck the Opposition
54. How It Starts
55. Sent By God
56. I Don’t Have Time
57. Scared
58. Violence