The Best Laid Plan
A micro-fiction story
Becky could barely contain her excitement. Sara had the best ideas. And this one, crafted under the cover of darkness between hotel sheets, was one of her best. Today they would finally be together.
Sara set a pharmacy bag on the kitchen counter. Becky ignored her kiss and ground the peanuts into dust. She stirred them into Archie’s soup. Sara scraped the remaining soup from the pot into the other bowls.
The three of them sat at the table. Archie still wore his stinking barn overalls. He crushed croutons with a ham-fisted hand, scattering them everywhere.
I am almost free of him.
The cuckoo clock filled the seconds of momentary quiet.
His spoon hovered in front of his mouth.
“No pork chops?”
“First course.”
“Fancy!” He squeezed her hand.
“Sara, what’s the story about Harson’s Corner?” he asked.
“When I picked up my dad’s heart pills, someone said it’s gonna be a mall.”
They droned on in syncopation with the clock’s percussion.
“Honey — your soup!”
Archie waved a hand at her.
