Donnie drove me home and I asked him to drop me off around the corner from the house. It would not do to have neighbours already aflutter with a juicy murder/rape to add the glistening dollop of suspicion of an affair with a younger man...
Mrs. Robinson with fangs! Now THERE was a thought!
I walked the 200 meters to my house and up the few steps to the front door. Before I had my key out it swung open,
"Mom!" My daughter's arms were around me, her hot tear-damp cheek pressed to mine. My girl. MINE. For all that Frank had fathered her, I suddenly realised she was first and foremost MINE.
I walked into my kitchen and into danger. A dizzy wave of hot blood swelled my temples. My sister, my rival, my betrayer was there.
"Rosa," I said her name flatly, with no emotion, but inside me, I felt a strange commotion: anger, and hunger combined in a rising tide... This, I suddenly realised wasn't just me. My symbiont was aware, perhaps even sentient, and connected not just to my digestive system - it was linked to my emotions.
"Greta," My dearest sister cried and held out her thin elegant hands with those long painted claws. She embraced me. I stood stiffly and felt an odd ripple as if my very jaws ached to clench around her throat. I swallowed a flood of saliva and pushed her away. She was prettily distraught. Her blond hair immaculate, her picturesque tears streaking her cheeks without smudging her make-up.
"I'm so very sorry...For your loss..." She sobbed.
"Frank was a great loss, for us all, wasn't he, Rosa?"
"Yes, our family is sadly diminished...And you widowed so young..."
"Yes, regrettably, as Frank would have said."
Her pink, perfect mouth dropped open, then shut as she threw me a wary glance.
"Family," I said. "Pain, grief, loss, regret...And secrets."
MC
Mrs. Robinson with fangs! Now THERE was a thought!
I walked the 200 meters to my house and up the few steps to the front door. Before I had my key out it swung open,
"Mom!" My daughter's arms were around me, her hot tear-damp cheek pressed to mine. My girl. MINE. For all that Frank had fathered her, I suddenly realised she was first and foremost MINE.
I walked into my kitchen and into danger. A dizzy wave of hot blood swelled my temples. My sister, my rival, my betrayer was there.
"Rosa," I said her name flatly, with no emotion, but inside me, I felt a strange commotion: anger, and hunger combined in a rising tide... This, I suddenly realised wasn't just me. My symbiont was aware, perhaps even sentient, and connected not just to my digestive system - it was linked to my emotions.
"Greta," My dearest sister cried and held out her thin elegant hands with those long painted claws. She embraced me. I stood stiffly and felt an odd ripple as if my very jaws ached to clench around her throat. I swallowed a flood of saliva and pushed her away. She was prettily distraught. Her blond hair immaculate, her picturesque tears streaking her cheeks without smudging her make-up.
"I'm so very sorry...For your loss..." She sobbed.
"Frank was a great loss, for us all, wasn't he, Rosa?"
"Yes, our family is sadly diminished...And you widowed so young..."
"Yes, regrettably, as Frank would have said."
Her pink, perfect mouth dropped open, then shut as she threw me a wary glance.
"Family," I said. "Pain, grief, loss, regret...And secrets."
MC
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