Free Strange Animals by Chad Kultgen Page A

needed, that it was quite possibly the most important thing she would ever do in her life.
    She knew, however, that she wouldn’t be able to keep the pregnancy secret for much longer. She knew she would have to tell the most important people in her life. She didn’t know how her parents would react. She assumed they’d be confused, but that they’d help her if she needed them. Her parents were supportive of everything she did, and she saw no reason for that to stop based on the nature of the project she was undertaking. It was Paul who caused her the most concern.
    She got out of the bathtub, toweled off, and went into thekitchen for a glass of orange juice. As she drank it and thought about how best to tell Paul what exactly was going on, she noticed he left the creamer out on the counter. On an impulse, she poured some into her orange juice and found that it was delicious. She knew this was a side effect of the pregnancy.
    Karen sat at the kitchen table, opened her laptop, and plugged in her USB device. As she sipped on her orange-juice-and-creamer mixture, she read over the web page she had made, trying to convince herself that she shouldn’t make it live. She knew it would enrage people, but that’s what she hoped for. In fact, the outcome she most desired was the kind of outrage that would lead to a public debate, that would force rational people to stop ignoring the religious right as inconsequential, that could shift the public toward a greater skepticism of religion.
    She started thinking through how the conversation with Paul might go. She knew he never wanted to have a child, but thought that if she ever accidentally became pregnant and wanted to keep it, he would be supportive. But she knew this situation wasn’t quite the same. To her knowledge, nothing like the situation she was about to create had ever existed. There was no blueprint, no tested strategy for how to break this exact news to this exact involved party. She resigned herself to this fact and tried to remain calm throughout the day as she ran some errands, ate lunch, and finally waited for Paul to come home from work.
    When Paul came in, Karen was sitting on the couch with her laptop open and her website on the screen. She still hadn’t made the site live and had planned to do so from a public computer, but as it appeared on Karen’s screen, the site gave every impression that it was indeed live. Karen decided to show Paul the site and pretend for a moment that it wasn’t her idea, that it was a real website made by some other girl. She said, “Hey, babe. You have to check this out.”
    Paul made his way to the couch, sat down next to Karen, kissed her on the cheek, and looked at her computer screen. He read the text that Karen had written and said, “Holy shit. That’s pretty hard-core. Has this hit the news yet?”
    â€œNo, not yet. What do you think, though?”
    â€œIt’s ballsy as fuck. I mean, fuck. It’s really pretty nuts.”
    â€œObviously, but on a philosophical level, do you agree with what she’s doing? Do you find it cool at all?”
    â€œJesus. I thought I was going to walk in the door, grab a beer, and watch Jeopardy! I didn’t realize I was going to be subjected to a philosophical debate as soon as I got home.”
    â€œSorry. I just think it’s really interesting, and I want to know what you think about it.”
    â€œIt is really interesting—especially the part about not keeping any of the money and putting it in a trust fund for the kid, if she has it. That’s the part that makes me think it’s a real social experiment, not just some crazy person. I guess it’s one of the smartest ways I’ve seen anyone use the Internet.” He paused a moment. “Fuck. It’s so good conceptually. Can you imagine having to go through that, though? She has to get shut down. I mean, is it even legal?”
    Karen had not