![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/10\/story-winner-pic-snip.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIt was a picturesque day when\nNatalie carried groceries into her suburban family home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Red heels clicked across polished\nwood floors. Skirt swished with each step. \u201cHoneyyyy,\u201d she called, \u201cI\u2019m home!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nobody sat back in the recliner or\ndented the loveseat\u2019s cushions as she passed through the living room though; no\nTV droned about this politician or that war; no rambunctious children dashed\naround.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She studied the room more\ncarefully. It seemed out of focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHoney\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her husband appeared suddenly wearing\none of her frilled aprons and a crooked smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI thought I\u2019d attempt dinner\ntonight. You always do so much darling!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh,\u201d she purred, \u201caren\u2019t you\nspecial?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the kitchen, a pot of water\nboiled awaiting pasta. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Natalie smiled at him. She smiled\nat him and started to ask about the kids. She smiled at him and–<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The movie ended, tape running out-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Record skipped, scratching across\nthe end-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Radio static-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Abrupt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Uneven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unwanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Natalie opened her eyes to bright\nlights and white lab coats, electrodes and IVs. She surged against restraints\nand was slammed back down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With terrible clarity, she knew\nexactly where her children were. Buried beneath radioactive dust with her\nhusband. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo,\u201d she whined, \u201cno, no, no. Put\nme back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She surged against her restraints\nagain. \u201cPUT ME BACK.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A needle pierced her shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a picturesque day when\nNatalie carried groceries into her suburban family home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Red heels clicked across polished\nwood floors. Skirt swished with each step. \u201cHoneyyyy,\u201d she called, \u201cI\u2019m home!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cherish Dean was the winner of our 2019 Spooktacular Flash Fiction Writing Contest. It was a picturesque day when Natalie carried groceries into her suburban family home. Red heels clicked across polished wood floors. Skirt swished with each step. \u201cHoneyyyy,\u201d she called, \u201cI\u2019m home!\u201d Nobody sat back in the recliner or dented the loveseat\u2019s cushions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":866,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861\/revisions\/866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/writingcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}