Day: February 19, 2020

She says sitting up from her lounged position on the soft brown leather couch. Her face ashen, with just a tinge of green around the edges. “Of course not.” I laugh. “It’s the damn dog. You know your mother feeds him raw hamburger all the time.” Getting up from the couch quickly, the stench wafting through the air between them. To avoid a second breaths worth of horrific stink, I bounce over to the fridge to grab a cold drink. The door jingles as the jars inside clink together with the motion. “Jesus, Dog! that’s rotten! You foul little beastie.” Waving both arms about, moving foul jetties of air about the adjoining kitchen. It’s enough to make the nostrils sting, and your eyes water. “Babe – do you need a refill on your drink while I’m up?” Peeling her eyes from her novel, she waves off the question with a limp flap of her hand. “No, I’m good. I have a glass of water over here that I haven’t touched yet, from earlier.” The hour is late, the hall lights are off and only a few sparse beams from headlights can be seen playing down the walls of the living room. The trailing red fading off the tiles in the kitchen as the cars pull down the street. The house is small but cozy, settled on the corner of an intersection. Outside the moon is large overhead, and the street lights have been on for awhile. The sounds of kids playing in the street has long since stopped. Called in for dinner by harried mothers and rushed fathers. Now the muffled shouts of teenagers takes it’s place. It’s a Tuesday night, and our show is about to come on. With a soft whimper, the dog fidgets and shakes as though chasing prey in his sleep. A soft hiss, a subtle wag of a tail, and another wave of the dogs gut rot permeates the couch and its occupants. Suburban bliss at its finest.