BREAKFAST IS SERVED

“Where’s Mom going with that gun?” Ashly asked as her brother poured milk over the bowl of sugary flakes sitting in front of her.

Ashly was a diminutive, dark-haired girl with big blue eyes. Her seeming innocence belied her hard life, and her small stature made her look younger than her thirteen years. She wore a pair of worn jeans, a t-shirt with a cartoon character on it, and dirty pink sneakers that had seen better days. She clasped her small hands in her lap as she watched the door click shut behind her mother.

“The twelve gauge muzzle loader,” her brother said in a bored tone, “I guess she’s going to shoot the monster.” Brian spooned sugar into the cup of hot cocoa he was making on the stove.

“Which one?” Ashly asked. “By the way, hot chocolate is not an appropriate breakfast item.”

“Does it matter?” Brian asked. “Monsters are monsters.”

Ashly huffed. “What did they ever do to us, besides occasionally scare the be-jeezus out of us on the way to the outhouse?” Ashly frowned. “Okay, bad example. I’m just sayin’, just because someone in the neighborhood loses track of their small, annoying dog doesn’t mean Momma needs to head out the door before breakfast with a shotgun. And just because some laws of nature don’t apply anymore doesn’t mean we have no laws at all.”

“Just so I’m clear,” Brian asked with a pensive look on his face, “you’re telling me monsters aren’t a problem, but my breakfast cocoa is?”

“Yep. At this rate, you’ll have a mouth full of cavities before you ever have to deal with a monster.”

Ashly knew he was right, though—the world was a dangerous place now and monsters were the root cause of that. But she couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for them. Maybe they were just misunderstood, like her. Her teachers had labeled her a “problem child” and her mother called often called her “infuriating.” But she knew she was just different, and that was okay. Maybe the monsters were just different, too.

Brian shrugged. “I’m just telling it like it is. It’s a dog eat dog world out there. As for the monster, I don’t know which one she’s going to shoot. Could be the one in the shed, could be the one in the woods. Hell, it could be the one under your bed, for all I know.”

Ashly shuddered at the thought of a monster in the house. There was a loud kablam from outside. Ashly and her brother walked over to the window and saw their mother staring intently at something in the distance. As she walked forward, a large, dark, misshapen creature emerged from the treeline with a deep growl. The creature was massive, with long, razor-sharp claws and a mouth full of jagged teeth.

Ashly gasped. “That’s the biggest monster I’ve ever seen.”

Brian nodded in agreement, his eyes wide. Their mother raised the gun and took aim. There was another deafening blast. The monster roared in pain and anger, charging their mother. But she was quick, dodging its massive claws and firing another shot straight into its heart.

The monster swayed for what felt like an eternity, then fell to the ground in what felt like a miniature earthquake, its body convulsing in its death throes. When it finally stopped moving, their mother walked over to the lifeless creature, her chest heaving with exertion and adrenaline. She put one more shot in it for good measure. Then she walked calmly back to the house.

She entered the house, still holding the gun. She had blood and bits of something else splattered on her. She smiled at her children. “Breakfast is served. Actually, this one should feed us for a week. Where’s the chainsaw?”

Brian pointed to the garage.

Ashly groaned. “I miss chicken.”

“It’ll taste like chicken,” Brian said. “With enough sauce, everything tastes like chicken.”

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ZOMBIE SURPRISE

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SIZE MATTERS