Flash Fiction Entries

Rhonda

“Please, Charley. I’m not going to be able to sleep without it. And if I don’t get it, you won’t sleep either.”

Charley knew pretending to be asleep wasn’t going to cut it with Rhonda. Rhonda, the eight month pregnant, walking talking craving machine. He slid his naked toes out from under the comforter and onto the icy-cold tiled floor. Grabbing his jeans, he danced a little jig as he stuffed one leg in, then the other. Slipping on his topsiders, he never looked back or said a word as he picked up his jacket and wallet.

Just before closing the apartment door, he heard Rhonda holler, “Don’t come back without it.”

Pistachio ice cream at three o’clock in the morning. Holy crap, where was he going to find that? He slid onto the cold leather of his baby blue Mustang, started the engine, and turned up the heat as high as it would go. A blast of frigid air shot through the vents causing him to tense and his teeth to chatter. He sat there waiting for the temperature gauge to rise and tried to think where to go for Rhonda’s latest in a long line of food demands.

Turning left at the light, he decided to check at the closest Shop ‘n Go. After parking in the nearly empty lot, he basked a few seconds in the warmth of his car’s interior, then stepped out onto the icy, snow-covered blacktop. The wind cut into his sockless ankles as he hurried from his car. Keeping his head down and his jacket collar up, his feet made a scrunching noise as he left a path to the entrance of the store. He rushed inside.

He never saw the hooded robber or the flash of light from his handgun.


Winner of the Daily Flash - 6/25/12