Life and Death

After Katie gets her bathrobe on and snuggles into a couple blankets on the couch, the soup is ready. I bring it out to her and we watch TV together.

My roommate clears her throat. "Much better," she announces.

I nod in acknowledgment.

       After watching a kitchen sponge in pants dance around for an hour, Katie turns off the TV stands up. "Ugh. Honestly, I have no idea why I was sick all of the sudden."

"Well, sickness can be unexpected," I explain. "Did you eat anything you shouldn't have?"

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah, some perfume and a plastic fork prong."

I groan. She went there. No, I never drank perfume. Yes, I had accidentally ingested a plastic fork prong. It happened at a school dinner dance party where I ate some noodles and chewed forever on this mysterious hard thing, then I took the fork out of my mouth. I noticed one of its prongs was gone and thought, "Oh, crap."

"Where did you get the perfume part from?"

"Oh, you know. One of the kids around here drank a whole thing of the stuff. She figured it tasted as good as it smelled."

I bite the inside of my cheek. This day was not going well.

Katie yawns and stretches. "Well, I think I'm gonna hit the hay."

I nod her off. "'Kay."

She stands there for a few seconds, probably wondering if I would say anything more, then shrugs and heads up the stairs.

I throw myself into a leather chair near the fireplace and in front of the sliding glass door. Twinks approaches me carefully.

"Aw, c'mere, you little rascal."

Twinks' tail wags and he pants happily. He jumps onto my lap and settles in.

"Hee." I stroke his little furry body.

Then a loud crash rings from upstairs and a scream pierces the air.

I'm in Katie's room in a flash. She has broken a mirror.

"Oh, great," I mumble.

"I'll get the broom," She says hastily, running out the room. A "Twinks, no, there's broken glass" commences from the hallway.

Once the mess is all cleaned up, I announce, "I, uh, think there's a mirror somewhere in my closet."

Katie nods sheepishly, and heads toward my room. I follow suit.

As Katie searches through the stuff littering the closet floor, her hand bumps something. "Hey, what's this?"

Curious, I clamber in and face the right.

A door is present there; it's nice with a red border and brass doorknob.

"When was this here?" I muse, turning the knob.

"Careful," my roommate warns. She always was the protective one.

"Stay here," I order. She exits the closet but stands nearby.

Cautiously, I enter.