The ceramic mug shattered. White stars on grey linoleum.
The one with the chipped rim she refused to throw away.
NEW TRENDING: 5 SIGNS YOUR KITCHEN IS OUTDATED.
A thud. Sarah. On her side. Her face was a smear of grey against the floor.
“Elias …” A wheezing breath.
He didn’t move.
BREAKING: CELEBRITY CHEF FOUND IN SECRET ROMANCE. SEE THE LEAKED PHOTOS.
“Sarah?” he said. His brain was slow.
“Heart,” she gasped. “Call ... please ...”
#WANDERLUST: IS THIS THE LAST UNTOUCHED PARADISE ON EARTH?
Turquoise water surged behind his eyelids. Warm sand. He felt his pulse slow. A sunset filter.
@USER99: “LMAO HE ACTUALLY SAID THAT??”
Sarah’s hand. Clawing at the tile. Like a crab.
Her fingers still stained faintly yellow from the turmeric she used that morning.
LIVE NOW: THE SENATE HEARING EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT. WATCH THE CLASH.
CHECK THE COMMENTS. PRAYERS. 7.2K OTHERS ARE WATCHING.
“Help,” she choked.
The phone … his fingers … heavy. His vision … streaks of thumbnails.
YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END OF THIS VIDEO.
Sarah’s eyes rolled back. Only the whites showed.
WHO ARE YOU ROOTING FOR? VOTE IN OUR POLL!
WARNING: YOUR CLOUD STORAGE IS 99% FULL.
He was losing the room. The kitchen blurred. The smell of coffee. Drowning in the noise … deep comfort. Effortless. A warm bath. His wife, the color of ash.
SYSTEM UPDATE PENDING. INSTALL NOW?
AEROBIC WORKOUT IN 5 MINUTES? CLICK TO JOIN.
He looked at the stove. The orange coil. A circle of pure, uncurated heat.
“Stop,” he whispered. To himself. To the air.
He lunged.
He slammed his left palm down onto the glowing orange ring.
YOUR CART IS WAITI …
USE CODE FOR 50 % OF …
The scream was real. It was a jagged blade of lightning that tore through the neon fog.
The smell of his own skin flooded his senses.
WTF IS SHE …
Silence.
Elias pulled his hand away. The world suddenly, violently sharp. He grabbed the phone.
“Heart attack,” he shouted at the dispatcher. “1422 Laurel! Please!!”
He fell to her. He ignored the sting of the burn, using it as a tether.
One. Two. Three.
He watched her eyelids tremble. The sirens rattled the windowpanes.
The paramedics broke the door.
“We’ve got her,” they said.
Elias stepped back. He watched the oxygen mask fog up with her breath.
Everything was quiet.
His phone vibrated. He looked at it and …
Zary Fekete grew up in Hungary and currently lives in Tokyo. He has a debut novella, “Words on the Page,” out with DarkWinter Lit Press and a short story collection, “The Written Path: A Journey Through Sobriety and Scripture,” out with Creative Texts. He enjoys books, podcasts, and many, many, many films.
Accompaniment: “Moon” — Ryuichi Sakamoto
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The bold and capital letters are a clever way to immitate what constant connectivity does to our lives. It made the constant interruptions in the reading irritating and difficult to follow the action. Perfect! Great music, too...
Nightmarish and wonderful.