Incidents Around the House

by Josh Malerman

Hi, I say. I’m so excited to see you again.

I don’t know. Nothing. I keep getting a whiff of something. Like…a toilet pipe. A toilet pipe? What the hell? It’s gone, Daddo says. But whatever. If something’s wrong, we’ll fix it.

That’s real cruelty. That’s world cruelty. Where it’s not just the idea that one person is cruel, it’s that they believe, and have reason to believe, the whole world feels the same.

We’re going to try to meet this Other Mommy. And we’re going to tell her to stay the hell away.

That’s what I’m really scared of. I’m scared I’m gonna say yes.

This is our house. Yes it is, Daddo says. This is our child. Yes it is, Daddo says. This is our fight.