#15: Hate

Every morning, she makes a list of what she could put into his coffee. Thanks to an alarmist news story she saw last night, she may have found an answer.

Sweet smelling and sweet tasting, antifreeze is actually a strong neuro-toxin. It takes the lives of hundreds of household pets a year that are unfortunate enough to have both sloppy owners and access to the garage.

She looks over her shoulder at the man sitting at the breakfast table. A newspaper covers his face, only slightly distorting the slurping sound of cereal from behind. God how he slurps! The sound feels like steel wool against her skin.

"Is that coffee ready yet?" he yells out, paper still up.

"Almost," she responds.

She pours the coffee three quarters of the way up. Cream and sugar today. Maybe tomorrow she'll leave a little more room.


Micro-Fiction Index