This is a reprint of my story published in Robbed of Sleep, Volume 2: Stories to Stay Up For in December of 2014. It also appears in Suppose: Drabbles, Flash Fiction, and Short Stories.

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Day one: He looks so innocent and young, but I can’t let his tender youth deceive me. I feed him poison. Lots of it. At first he seems ecstatic, stretching and enjoying the sunny day. When he finally dies several hours later, I smile.

Day eight: No! It couldn’t be the same one, could it? How? I wrestle with him and hack, hack, hack until I kill him. This time, my smile is tentative when I stand at the sink and scrub the stains from my hands.

Day eighteen: Can’t be. Is it really him? He sways and smirks at me when I walk out the door. Why won’t he stay dead? I flee for my car to escape his smug superiority. At work, I pace and plot and plan. I search the internet and delete my browser history so the boss doesn’t know I’ve been using company time for personal stuff.

Day nineteen: Predawn. The street is quiet. It’s still dark outside, and everyone’s asleep. Everyone except for me. I sneak into the yard. The security light switches on. I spray him with an acid solution I read about on the net. Good. That’s the end of him. I leave for holidays on an early flight and try not to think about him while I’m gone.

Day thirty-three: Now he’s back. With several friends. Why are they haunting me? What are they? Zombies or something? I grit my teeth and grimace while I lop off their blond heads. I hope the neighbors won’t hear me chortle as I complete the gruesome deed and watch the zombie intruders collapse. I’m sure I’ve killed them all for good this time.

Day forty: I realize they’re here to stay. I peek through the kitchen window at the sea of yellow that used to be my lawn. Then I cruise the internet seeking recipes for dandelion wine.

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You’ll find more short fiction like this in Suppose: Drabbles, Flash Fiction, and Short Stories.