He strides across the room, ignoring your sentences. “I’ll chat to you about the job tomorrow?” You say, almost as a question. He waves an arm, mouth full of food, and leaves the room. You have tried to talk for several nights, but he has been preoccupied. A child is crying upstairs. He is rarely ever in; tonight he is on his phone in the kitchen, calls out and asks you to go. You head up, because that’s what you do. Your daughter wants a cuddle. You settle her, stroking her curls, and go to bed alone.
F.C. Malby is a contributor to Unthology 8 (Unthank Books) and Hearing Voices: The Litro Anthology of New Fiction. Her debut short story collection, My Brother Was a Kangaroo includes award-winning stories, and her debut novel, Take Me to the Castle, won The People's Book Awards. Her short fiction has been published in various literary magazines and journals online and in print.
www.fcmalby.com
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