Shallow Waters Vol.4: A Flash Fiction Anthology by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: dark fiction, short story, short fiction, horror
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
Published: 2019-12-12T16:00:00+00:00

Ben Lathrop has written and taught on the history of cinema with a focus on the horror genre and cult audience behavior. He is a native Iowan, former television horror host and present librarian. He lives with his family in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Talk

Lori Michelle

“I have something to tell you.” She timidly placed her hands on the counter. “And please don’t stop me before I am through, I need to tell you everything.”

She didn’t turn to look at him, expecting the inevitable backlash, but when none came, she took a breath and continued on. “I want out. I can’t do this anymore.”

She slightly cringed, anticipating a blow to the back of her head. She’d been slapped for much less, remembering the time she didn’t take the cap off his beer correctly, or the nights she hadn’t cooked his meat how he wanted. She peered out of the corner of her eyes to make sure he was still sitting there. She didn’t want to look him full on, fearing another black eye. She could see his shadowy outline still sitting there at the kitchen table.

She closed her eyes and thought about all she had endured. She remembered the time she had mistakenly worn a T-shirt while house cleaning, and the subsequent punishment of spending the night in the dog cage. Or the time she had a migraine and he locked her outside to sleep in the cold.

She opened her eyes, inspecting her swollen bumpy hands. They were all crooked and gnarled from being broken so many times. The arthritis had already started but she dared not complain of the pain lest she should endure a new agony. Gathering strength, she made a mental note to wash her hands before finishing the preparation for dinner.

She looked out into space as she continued, waiting for his hands to start hurting her again. “I don’t want to be your whipping girl anymore. I can’t take the abuse any longer.”

Tears started to drip down her face and she winced at the pain in her ribcage from where she had been kicked several times. All the years of her life she had given up just to be tortured. Why had she stayed? He had made her feel so worthless, like no one else would even look her way or need her. But the thought of living the next twenty years of her life afraid and in pain was too much for her to handle.

Taking as deep of a breath as she could, she finally turned to face him, his eyes wide open in shock. “I am done and I am leaving.”

She took off the apron she was wearing, and meticulously wiped the blood which had settled on her hands. She set the apron on the counter gently and looked at him one more time, sitting there, quietly listening to her with the huge knife sticking out from his chest. The blood was running down his limp body and forming a pool at his feet, but she no longer cared.

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