Honorable Mention – Flash 405, February 2024: “Host”
Nonfiction
The host had two modes of address: provoke and seduce.
Sunday dawns dark. I am “asleep” on the couch upholstered in dog hair. The host pads down the stairs, makes coffee, brings it up to her girlfriend. Dialogue floats down. “We’re out of milk,” the host reports. The girlfriend peers into her mug (black), then notices the host’s (muddy umber). “What the hell is that?” she demands. The host leans in. “You would have given it to me anyway, baby.”
Later, like the ex I am, I run out to retrieve milk.
Judge’s Comments:
This piece demands to be read slowly and attentively, yet doing so seems to diminish little of its intrigue. Why is the ex even there to witness this? Our time with them is so brief, but leaves me hungry for more.
Alex Brostoff is a writer, translator, and educator.
Photo Credit: Nathan Dumlao