She came home to find a penny under her pillow and an empty vase next to the watered bed.



He had entered the house- an attempt for surprise, masking his knowing of the spare key hide-and-seek place.

Swinging the door closed behind him, a mockery of playground aerodynamics,

he walked flat-footedly around the kitchen- assessing the most keen of places-

sunlight, eye-catching stability, glass on glass.

A single blue rose on the kitchen table to say something indiscernible

that would result in knotted bed sheets and the light tossing of frothy negligee.



She came home to find a blue rose swimming in a bathtub on the kitchen table- or rather, under the table.



He searched the cupboards, diving and crawling between the pans and iron supplements-

the stringing of shoe laces by the old woman that lived under them-

(like a boy from under his bed when the “seeker” gave up on the game,making the “hider” a Napoleonic court jester),

He emerged from the dust a two ton mixing bowl under his arm. Scattered on the floor behind him, fallen soldiers

in the form of #1 Dad coffee mugs and the more appropriate crystal bud vases.



She came home to find the kitchen table had cracked, shattered, and the floor buried and bruised, blood-stained with water.



He set the aluminum mixing bowl in the center of the table, filled it with water and struggled to stand the rose, feet flat, in the water- baffled by the liquid’s lack of density.

He moved the blue rose to the dining room chair, sat across from it at the table, and made polite conversation.

They talked mostly about the weather.



She came home to water discarded all over like clumsy change between the couch cushions,



She knew the hide-and-seek key would be missing again.

11/10/2003

Posted on 11/10/2003
Copyright © 2026 Gabrielle L Gervais