‘Why aren’t you ready yet?’
Jenny starts to cry.
She has spent hours perfecting her outfit, styling her hair, applying makeup.
She pats her eyes dry, wary of mascara runs, then slaps him as hard as she can.
‘Ouch,’ he says. ‘That hurt!’
Jenny laughs. She’s pleased she’s inflicted pain.
‘What’s funny?’ he says.
This is the last time he will make her cry.
She turns her back on him and picks up the knife.
Chop.
Chop.
Chop.
Humming a tune, Jenny blanks him from her thoughts.
She needs to cook those vegetables, their guests will arrive soon.
Good one!
I’m going back and forth as to whether he’s having dinner with the guests, or being served to them…I’ll never know, will I?
I love the switch to “chop, chop, chop.” She chops him from her mind. And maybe, just maybe, she actually chops him. You’ve built a strong emotion in so very few words.
A warning to unappreciative men!
“A warning to unappreciative men!”
Warning duly noted. 😉
A nice piece here, battypip. You didn’t waste time getting down the nitty gritty with it. Well done.
And, for our entrée we have…
Oh my, this was very nicely done in very little time/space.
Never antagonize the cook, particularly when there is a knife at hand. Onions or hubby? Onions or hubby? Not a good position to be in. Enjoyed this. Thanks.
~jon
Should be an interesting night in Jenny’s household.
Flash fiction at its best. Kitchen sink drama seen through a crack in the door, seeing just that moment. So much that has happened before and after that we can imagine and that adds weight to the scene. Great stuff 🙂
HA! I too displace my agression on the innocent [dinner], but after reading the other comments… I am not sure if he is indeed dinner.
I am pretty sure he is not, and there is a LOT more to the story, but it’s fun to pretend (maybe fun isn’t a good word for it 😉 )
Always a pleasure, and many apologies for being late
~2