Artwork © Robert Fleming
Blaster
When we got home from school after lacrosse practice our mom was in the kitchen at the stove stirring the big steel pot. My older brother Tom made a noise and wrinkled his nose.
“What are you making, stew?” he said.
“Yes, stew.”
He groaned. “I guess no meat again, another one of your vegetarian delights.”
I threw my backpack into a corner. “Right now I could go for some Oreos.”
Mom kept stirring. “No Oreos until after the meal. It will spoil…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, my appetite,” I said.
Mom glared at me though I didn’t take it to heart. I love Mom, she does her best for us.
“Dad doesn’t send enough money,” Tom said. He sat at the table and banged his fist. “It’s not fair. Betcha he and his new family eat filet mignon steak every other night.”
“Oh, Tommy,” was all she said.
“Well I hate being a vegetarian.”
“Me, too, I hate it, too,” I said. “I could go for a grilled pork chop.”
Tom was sniffing the top of the wooden table. “This table has a funny smell.”
“It’s all those vegetables,” I said. “They seep into the wood. Especially the broccoli and cabbage. Real stinko food.”
Mom shook the ladle at us, some gravy splattering the floor. “Dammit,” she said, bending to wipe it up. “Consider yourselves lucky. Some people exist on very thin sandwiches. If that.”
Tom and I looked at each other saying nothing.
“But for dessert we do have Oreos, right?” said my brother.
Mom nodded. “For after.”
“How much time before we eat?” I said. My stomach was rumbling.
“About twenty minutes.”
“OK. I’ll go throw the ball for Blaster. Where is he, outside?” Usually at suppertime he’s hanging around the kitchen.
“Not exactly,” said Mo
Susan Isla Tepper has two new books forthcoming from Wilderness House Press. Her novel Hair of a Fallen Angel came out from Spuyten Duyvil Books, NYC, in the fall of last year. A twenty-year writer, she is the author of twelve published books of fiction and poetry and 7 stage plays. Tepper has been nominated 24 times for the Pushcart Prize in both fiction and poetry. Her play The Crooked Heart is a broken love story concerning artist Jackson Pollock that premiered on October 25, 2022 at the Irish Repertory Theatre in NYC. Adapted from an earlier novel, it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. A YouTube music video for her latest novel was produced by Tim Young and Paula Parente.
Robert Fleming is a digital artist and visual poet from Lewes, DE. His books are White Noir, an Amazon best seller and Con-Way in 4 in 1 #4. Founding/contributing editor of Old Scratch Press and editor of Instant Noodles.