Alligators?

 

All he knew was that he had to head for the water but when he opened the door, the parking lot was full of alligators (or were they crocodiles, he never could remember how to tell the difference; he knew that one of them lived in fresh water and one in salt water but then there were the crocodiles in the Everglades so who the hell knew) and he ran, with them close behind him, remembering that they could run at 30mph for long enough to catch him, but they didn’t- they thundered past him and dove into the water.

Aging

 

It was a hard thing to realize she couldn’t do some of the things she wanted to do anymore.

Her body was no longer young and nimble, and it tired easily, stumbling without warning.

There were so many things she still wanted to do and so many places she still wanted to see, but not doing or seeing was not an option.

The things she could do were still glorious and beautiful, and she’d learned (the hard way) that sometimes when you fall, you see the tiny things on the ground that you would have stepped on, squishing their beauty.

Marriage

 

She’d been holding his hand all night, knowing he wouldn’t see daylight.

When his breathing stopped, her world stopped.

Everything and everyone around them were as if they didn’t exist.

Only her hand and his, still entwined.

Eventually, they came for his body, and her son took her home.

She went about her days as always, but there was nothing but darkness inside her.

One night, he sat on the bed beside her and stroked her head.

She knew then that he hadn’t broken his promise to never leave her.

“Well, OK, then” she said, and lived for them both.

Golden Years

 

Cart loaded and ready, the old man went out the open door at Target. In the parking lot, he found the correct car and loaded everything into it.

It was hot outside, the sun blazing, reflecting off the asphalt, but he’d be back in the air conditioning in a few minutes, so it was alright.

Most days he imagined he was crossing a golf course parking lot, maybe somewhere in Florida, like he saw on TV.

He smiled at the woman in the driver’s seat and said cheerfully, “You have a great day, and thank you for shopping Target curbside!”

Company

 

He first noticed them a few months after his wife left him.

At first, he blamed the dog for moving things around, but when the upper cabinets in the kitchen started being opened, he had to admit it wasn’t the dog, which was a dachshund. Old Rusty was smart, but not that nimble.

He would catch a glimpse of something off to the side as he was watching TV, and then another something from the other side, so he knew there was more than one.

Well, they didn’t eat much, and it was better than being alone with just Rusty.

Adulting

 

She sighed heavily and took off her coat and shoes. Too tired to make anything for dinner after a 12-hour shift on her feet, she poured herself a bowl of cereal and collapsed on the sofa.

The house was a mess, but she had no time to clean it. It took all her energy to keep herself in clean clothes and dishes. The bathroom was spotless, and her bed was made up unless she was in it.

If she could climb into a made bed, life seemed civilized.

Everything else was stress and madness, but at least she had that.

Lizard

 

They were eye to eye.

The lizard bobbed its head up and down, tentatively.

The little boy did the same.

More animated now, the lizard bobbed again.

As did the little boy.

Excited, the little boy whispered to his grandfather, “Look, Pepaw! I’m talkin’ to the lizard!”

The old man chuckled, “Careful, son. You don’t know what you’re sayin’ to him.”

Ignoring him, the little boy bobbed again- more enthusiastically than ever.

The lizard drew back for a moment, then lunged.

It took almost a minute for Pepaw to get the lizard to let go of the little boy’s lip.

Bugs

 

The shield bug skittered across the hay, and she gave it a quick glance. Then a slower glance. Something was strange about it.

It shimmered like a puddle of oil on a hot driveway. Weird.

Looking around for more bugs, she realized they were all intensely colorful in hues they should never be.

A thrumming sounded in the tall grass of the field, and thousands of dragonflies took flight, their rainbow colors and patterns growing in intensity as they sucked the color out of everything around them.

And then they were gone, leaving behind a sad gray and brown landscape.

Perfect Cookies

 

“My grandma bakes perfect cookies!” crowed Emily, sticking her tongue out.

Jessie went home in tears, and her mother set about making perfect cookies, too.

After experimenting with size, thickness, density, cooking time and number of chips per cookie, she presented Jessie with a plate of perfect cookies.

“Nooooooo!” cried Jessie, running from the room, in tears again. “Those aren’t right at all!”

With some consternation, Jessie’s mother asked Emily’s grandmother for some cookies.

They were lopsided and no two had the same number of chips.

When asked, Emily said, “They’re perfect because she puts lots of love in them.”

 

Home Sweet Home

 

He sat by the window, drinking his coffee. It was a beautiful day.

The sun was shining through the trees, sparkling like diamonds in the blue lake.

He went through his day, taking quiet joy from the beauty outside every window.

His children would call him, asking him to visit, but he always declined, pleasantly but firmly. Why would he ever leave this idyllic place?

The doorbell rang. It was his weekly delivery of food and supplies.

The deliveryman shook his head as he left the ramshackle trailer in the center of the junkyard, the windows papered over with photographs.

Search

 

It was here somewhere. It had to be.

It was strange that he couldn’t put his hand on it, because he was such an orderly and meticulous man.

Obviously, his search was also orderly and meticulous.

He started at one end of the house and went carefully through all the neatly organized drawers and closets, even places he never would have put it, because he knew when people get older, they put things in unusual places.

And he was definitely getting older.

He never did find it, since he forgot what he was looking for an hour into his search.

Bridge

 

They’d come a long way to see the bridge.

First by dilapidated motheaten passenger train, then walking uphill on a rocky trail lined with scorpions and sadness, and finally, on a bus that smelled of old tuna sandwiches and feet.

But now they were here.

Silently, they gathered on the bridge, waiting for it to raise up and allow the fancy boats to sail under it, away from the brown river and into the blue waters of the lake.

But nothing happened. The fancy boats milled around in the brown water, their crews glaring at the people on the bridge.

Good Old Days

 

“People used to stay married back in our grandparent’s time! When they hit rough patches, they dug in and stuck it out. Young people today get divorced over nothing! It’s disgusting!”

The nursing home CNA nodded politely, knowing better.

Many of the old women had talked about husbands who beat them and worse. They were relieved when they died, and more than a few confessed to helping matters with a little poison or a planned “accident”.

In their time, women couldn’t have a bank account or own property. Death was the only way out, and for many, it was merciful.

 

Ungrateful

 

She saw it sitting by the side of the road, fluffed up and pitiful looking.

She cursed under her breath. She had 100 things to do today, and this was not on the list.

As she found somewhere to turn around, she went over what steps would need to be taken and who would need to be contacted to deal with this.

She approached what would assuredly bite her, possibly claw her, and most likely pee on her.

Looking puzzled, then alarmed as she got closer, the barred owl shook himself off, blinked one slow imperious time, and flew away.