Flash! Fiction by Peter McMillan - HTML preview

33

"No Daddy."

"I'm sorry little man, I thought you were Mommy. Go tell Mommy I need my lucky shoes and I'll be ready in 5 minutes."

"Ok Daddy. Can I watch you shave?"

"Not today. Daddy's in a hurry."

Sound of a little boy calling his mother gets fainter.

"Shouldn't always be ignoring him, you know. He's a good kid, and he doesn't have to turn out like you."

"Well, maybe that won't be so bad as you're always saying. Look, I’ll never quit trying, and if you'd just pull yourself together, maybe we could get somewhere."

"So now you're the optimist, huh? That's not how you were talking last night. Remember what you said?"

"Give me a break. I'd had too much to drink and I was alone, which means I was in your lousy company, and you do bring out the worst in me."

"That's some memory you got. Guess you forgot it was me that reminded you of your wife and kid while you were mourning your life away."

"Ok, I appreciate that. But why can't you always be there? Like right now?"