The Sibling knew something was wrong when one afternoon they asked the Civilian to accompany them to the supermarket, the Civilian hid inside their pocket, and from the inside flashed them a thumbs-up.
“All right,” the Sibling said, hands on their hips, “what did you do?”
The Civilian shrugged. How on earth did they shrug? “I just felt like it.” they said from inside the pocket.
The Sibling narrowed their eyes at the Civilian. “No,” they said, “you never did this before.” The Sibling squinted their eyes some more. “You did something, and we’re not going to the supermarket until you tell me what it is.”
The Civilian shrugged again. How in the hell are they doing that? “I didn’t do anything.” they mused. “Your pocket’s comfy. Say, where did you buy your pants? The fabric’s so soft and non-abrasive.”
The Sibling crossed their arms and sneered. “Don’t change the subject. What did you do?”
“What subject?”
The Sibling raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t do anything. I just thought to shake things up and hitch a ride in your pocket.” The Civilian explained. “I’ll be like a Mini-Civilian! You like dolls, right? Driver told me there’s a sale on dolls in the supermarket this week. Wanna check ‘em out?”
“Yep, it’s serious. You definitely did something.” The Sibling closed the front door and went to the living room. They walked to the middle of the floor and dropped down. The Sibling sat cross-legged. “Where did you bury the body?”
“Come on Sib, you know I didn’t do anything.”
The Sibling crossed their arms and huffed. “How would I know? You’re so secretive. You could be selling drugs right now for all I know.”
The Civilian snorted. “Right now? While I’m inside your pocket?”
The Sibling didn’t say anything.
The Civilian sighed. “This is ridiculous.”
“Not as ridiculous as what you did!”
“What did I do?”
“How would I know?! I wasn’t the one who did, whatever it was you did!”
The Civilian groaned from inside their pocket. “Sib,” they said, “I didn’t do anything.”
“All right,” the Sibling began, “if you’re not gonna tell me, I’m telling mom.” The Sibling craned their neck up to the ceiling. “MOM!”
“Yes dear?”
The Sibling looked down so fast they were surprised their neck didn’t snap. “Mom! Why are you inside my pocket?!”
The Civilian’s, and the Sibling’s, Mom yawned and stretched their arms up from inside the Sibling’s other pocket. “Was sleeping.”
The Civilian beamed. “Told you it was comfy.” They flashed the Sibling finger guns.
The Sibling is just, so lost, right now. “Mom, Civilian… what, why?”
“Come on, Sib, give it up.” The Civilian said, smiling. “I hid inside your pocket because I just wanted to, and Mom’s inside your other pocket because the fabric really is very comfortable.” they said. “That doesn’t mean we did something wrong.”
The Sibling just looked lost.
The Civilian tugged on the Sibling’s hoodie from inside the pocket. “Can we go to the supermarket now?”
“You guys going to the supermarket?”
The Sibling turned towards the hallway, just in time to see their Dad diving straight for their hoodie’s pocket. “Good,” their Dad said, shifting a bit from inside the pocket. “I wanted to buy something.”
|Originally written: April 09, 2020
YOU ARE READING
Choice Cuts
Short StorySweetest Decay, Series 1 A collection of my short stories I first published in my writing blog, Sweet Decay.
