---

Rub your eye stye all over his face towels.

Drool on his pillows.

Dream of wrapping his head in cellophane.

Lower sunglasses on your aquiline nose and stare with disdain at his beach potbelly.

Tsk out loud.

Offer no praise.

Stay unadorned and scratchy. Leave your unpainted nails (toe and finger) raggy and unfiled.

Lick the insides of his unused medical masks.

Crumble his Proof of Vaccination card.

Drop all his precious remotes on the hardwood floor.

Hide his phone.

Move things just beyond his reach.

Drizzle a full can of Cento crushed tomatoes on his shiny kitchen floor tiles.

Place the oozing can on his brand-new countertop, so its rim leaves a stained red ring.

Plop your key in the oozing can.

Leave.

Don’t bother to close the door.

Gulp the fresh air.

Keep walking.

Strive for calm.

Take a slow, deep breath. And another.

Allow yourself a brief, well-deserved cackle.

Smile.

Move on.

THE END

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Nancy Ford Dugan’s work has been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in over fifty publications, including Cimarron Review, The Diverse Arts Project, The Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review, Dream Catcher Literary Magazine (UK), Epiphany, Passages North, The Healing Muse, The MacGuffin, The Minnesota Review, Superstition Review, After Happy Hour Review, Blue Lake Review, Crack the Spine, Cobalt Review, Delmarva Review, El Portal, Glint Literary Journal, Green Hills Literary Lantern, Hawaii Pacific Review, Hypertext, I-70 Review, Lowestoft Chronicle, Nonconformist Magazine, The Penmen Review, Slippery Elm, The Summerset Review, Tin House’s Open Bar, and Wrath-Bearing Tree.