I Wish, I Wish by Zirk van den Berg

Author:Zirk van den Berg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Cuba Press Ltd
Published: 2020-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

When Zombies Bleed

By early evening, Seb ran out of reasons to stay at work. There were the kids to think of. As far as he knew, they didn’t seem to care too much whether he was home or not, but this was no ordinary evening. If Helen had done what she’d undertaken to do, she would have broken the news to them. They weren’t little kids any more, but who knows how they might respond to their mother leaving. It was so unfair that the children had to bear the brunt of their parents’ failures.

Ten-to-one Helen told the story in a way that portrayed her – and by extension the children too – as the victims of Seb’s shortcomings, of his inability to show emotion and to maintain sound human relationships, and of his torpid nature. If only I were different, thought Seb, not so damned withdrawn. If I could give expression to my emotions, if I could show the turmoil I sometimes feel inside …

He opened the front door and listened. All the lights were on, but he didn’t hear anything. He was about to put his car keys, now attached to the half-built Rubik’s cube, on the glass table inside the front door when he hesitated. He’d never liked that table: how it looked, how easily it got smudged, and the noise it made when he put his keys down. He slipped the keys into his pocket, picked up the limp flower arrangement he’d brought home from work nearly a week before, and tossed it out the front door, not caring where it landed. Then he tackled the table by its wrought-iron legs, hoisted it up and tottered out to the edge of the rockery. He heaved it upwards and away in an arc. It was top-heavy and turned over in the air, crashing into the rocks with the glass plate first. It splintered, followed by a tinkling until the shards came to rest. The curved iron legs stood out like the tendrils of some outlandish creeper. He considered his handiwork for a moment. That felt good.

‘What was that?’ Katrina had appeared behind him, halfway down the stairs.

Now he felt silly. ‘Oh, I …’

She came and stood beside him, looking at the upended table in the rockery. Her hand hooked around his upper arm, and he drew her towards him, pressing her fingers to his ribs. ‘Did you see Mum?’

She nodded once, pursing her lips.

He stood motionless for as long as he could, unsure what would come next.

‘What’s going to happen to us?’ she asked eventually.

‘We carry on,’ he answered. ‘We’ll find a way.’

He hoped he sounded more convincing than he felt.

‘But how could she do this? I don’t understand.’

‘Katrina …’ He might have understood more than her, but that was still not enough. ‘There are always two sides to a story. I’m sure she’s doing what she thinks best. I think the hardest thing for her is moving away from you and Josh. She wouldn’t just do that.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.