From The Seduction of Emy and Other Stories

Copyright 2023 A. R. Gregory

 

Pet Peeve

Ted walked into the kitchen, then halted. He glared at the countertop. Of all the bowls Jenn could use, why his? It was the only bowl big enough for his cornflakes, and there it was, stranded on the dish rack, peppered with dried specks of her granola. One “speck” as big as his thumbnail! He remembered how his mother had been a slovenly dishwasher too. Had been, before his dad...

He grabbed the bowl, wheeled, hurled it at the stone-tiled kitchen floor.
Jenn, still in her cotton nightshirt, gasped? Where the hell did she come from? The bone-white bowl exploded right before her bare feet and legs. A ceramic shard grazed her shin.

Cherry, who’d been cowering by her dog bowl waiting for her breakfast, scrambled out of the kitchen, slipping and sliding on the tile floor.

Jenn stared at the red trickle inching down her leg. She clenched her fists. “You prick!” she screamed. “Are you fucking crazy?” She spun and ran through the dining room, then back upstairs. “Prick!” Ted heard her scream again, just before she slammed the bathroom door....