{EAV:9a9c836b7fd1bcdd}
Doug
By Liz Rivera


“Man, I don’t know what to do anymore. I asked my wife to please stop freaking out about it, told her to meditate or something. But she won’t.”

“Dude, don’t you see that maybe there’s a problem heah? Why’d ya think I stopped comin’ to your house since that dark service, bringing-life-back party you had? That fricken thing was stinking even then.”

“Are you kidding me? You too?” Doug rubs his face.

“Look, alls I’m sayin’ is, what’s going on, well, I think you need to talk to somebody. Professional like. Just to help you get over all" he raises his hands "this. Now, don’t gimme that face. I’m serious heah.”

“Mario, you’re supposed to be my friend…”

“That’s right. I am. That party night scared the crap outta me for days. All those candles and old teeth laid out like that. And check you out now. Right here. This is a playground and no kids are here ‘cause you are.”

“Look can we drop it, please? I got a headache. Let me play with Harley in peace.”

Mario walks away as Doug pushes his beloved dead cat on the swing.


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Liz Rivera is a born and raised New Yorker presently living in Texas. She's a member of Inklings, Frisco Writers and McKinney Coffee Writers and is the author of Thank God I Have Eyelids! She is, as Stephen King states "a writer teaching her mind to misbehave."