Operant Conditioning

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.

The prompts: This story must contain the line: "Clean up this mess."

Operant Conditioning

Charlie had just picked up his lacrosse stick and was heading towards the door when the headache hit.

He grabbed the sides of his head and struggled to stay on his feet. This was going to be a bad one; though not as bad as some of the others. His vision clouded and he toppled over onto his bed.

“Breathe into it,” he thought, remembering his mom’s words. Somehow she knew what was best.

After a couple of breathes, the pain began to recede. Eventually he was able to sit up.

He saw his lacrosse stick laying where it had fallen; there atop a week’s worth of dirty clothes bound up in miles of electronic gamer wiring. Thinking he still had time to catch up with the guys, he grabbed the stick and headed for the door.

The pain slapped him back onto the bed.

After a few breaths Charlie sat up and said slowly, “I’m going to go play with the guys…right after I clean up this mess.”

His mother sat back and smiled. The O. C. 2000 was working even better than the salesman had said. No more “Do your homework” or “Watch your mouth, Mister.”

Charlie was rapidly becoming the ideal son.

Yes, there was a tinge of guilt. Boys should be allowed to be boys. They needed to have their freedom. Still, mothers know best.

“Now that Charlie’s taken care of, maybe I’ll go out and work in the garden,” she said to herself.

The headache hit before she could rise out of her seat.

“Breathe,” she told herself.

The headache receded, but she knew it was ready to strike again.

Slowly, she reached for the TV remote and turned on the Shopping Channel.

“I will garden after I buy a few things I really need…”

Word count 300