Description
I’m cooking pasta, like I always do on Thursdays. It’s been a tradition ever since James was little I’ve made spaghetti with garlic and he’s always loved it. I’ll ask about school; he’ll ask about work. It’s nice. The water is bubbling and I have this idea. This fleeting thought, for just a moment, that James needs me right now, and I decide to check on him. I walk down the hallway to his bedroom. From outside the door, noises. Subtle, but definitely a movement. I figure it’s a new feature on some sort of videogame or social media or something. I can’t keep up with technology. Kids these days don’t understand real interaction, human connection. They don’t read books, or magazines. Everything is computerized. Ugh. Anyway, I loiter outside the door, noting that he’s fine and I should go. But I think about this news special I saw about silent predators, how they come into the house and the parents won’t even know that the kid is being abducted or assaulted or something terrible and my heart starts beating faster so I don’t think. I just do. I twist the brass doorknob, throw open the door and everything changes. He starts screaming, cursing; embarrassed more than angry, I think. This marks the first time I regret raising him without a man in the house…..
This is an excerpt/preview. You will be able to download the entire monologue once purchased.
- Written by: Allison Lee Flom
