Fish Stick Day

Short little short story about a family thrown into turmoil after a family hunting trip goes terribly wrong.

He picked up the fish stick and shoved it into his mouth.  He loved Fish Stick Day.  He loved fish sticks.  Embedding his fingers into the warm macaroni and cheese he smiled as the creamy golden sauce slid into his palms.  He clapped his hands together as he rocked back and forth.

“Yummy!  Yummy!” he yelled.  Malachi looked about the room, surprised as his own voice echoed off the walls.

“He’s doing really well,” Amy Dutton observed.  “Saying a few words and feeding himself.”

“You sound like a proud mother,” Nicona Elliston said.

Amy grinned, freckles dancing across her nose.  “I suppose, in a way, I am.”

“How is his mother doing, by the way?”  Nicona asked.

“She’s devastated, of course, but counseling is helping.  Losing her husband in the hunting accident that way has been tough for her to handle but she has accepted that it was, indeed, an accident.”

Amy looked back at Malachi and suppressed a giggle.  He was tossing the macaroni noodles into the air, shrieking with delight as they landed in his dark, wavy hair.

“Such a shame.”  Nicona shook his head, his chiseled features sinking, a shadow falling across his normally bright eyes.

“About Mrs. Garrington?”

“The entire situation.  She has been through so much.  Her husband, her home flooding after all the rains we’ve had, the car wreck and this …” He waved a hand toward Malachi.

“She’s a strong woman,” Amy said.  “I know she’s holding it all together for him.”  She nodded her head toward Malachi.  “She still has hope pushing her forward.”

“So many family members don’t and it makes things worse.”  Nicona’s brows knit together in frustration.

The pair stood in deafening silence for a brief moment.

They watched together as Malachi Garrington stood to his full six feet in height, crouched and rolled his thin, pajama-clad body across the floor from rubber wall to rubber wall.

“I don’t know if he will ever get over the accident, shooting his own father like that.”  Tears welled in Amy’s eyes.

Nicona closed the window in the hospital-green door with a thump.

Doctors Elliston and Dutton walked slowly down the long sterile hallway to check on their next patient.

Author's Note

Please give an overall review on this short story. Thank you!

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A surprise ending to the story. To shoot another in a hunting accident. If difficult. To shoot your father. It permanent. A powerful tale shared dear friend. Thank you for sharing the powerful and sad story.
Coyote

[MelissaAndres]

Thank you, Coyote Poetry. I am glad that I could touch you with this. Forgive me for not responding sooner. I have been terribly sick with bronchitis and a bad sinus infection. I appreciate your review.

[Coyote Poetry]

I understand being busy and you are welcome.

[BL]

It gives you a glimpse of a much bigger story and is self encapsulating. It is well described, balanced and is made to seem real. I like it.

[MelissaAndres]

Thank you, Be. I am glad you liked this!

[wordman]

you are a great story teller my friend !

[MelissaAndres]

Thank you, wordman! That means a lot to me! :)

[Megan]

I really like the concept you have going here. It's powerful. The fact that this son killed his own father and we are listening and two outsiders talk about it is very interesting. i really like this read; I think you did a good job at building suspense, introducing characters, and leading to a rather horrifying conclusion. I think that you could even elaborate a bit more on this piece and make it a very good read. Keep writing!

[MelissaAndres]

Thank you, Megan! I am glad you liked this. You never know what a tragedy can reduce us to in certain circumstances.

[TL Boehm]

ouch ouch ouch. I kinda had a feeling it was going the way it was going - but I think you did well with it.

[MelissaAndres]

Thank you, TL!

[Samuel Dickens]

That's an unexpected twist. I'm thinking he might already have been disturbed before the accident.

[MelissaAndres]

Tragedy can do strange things to the mind!