"Glitch" by Mikki Aronoff

Thinks She Sees Everything

Ma plucks straight pins from the cushion, grips half between her lips, hems my too-long taffeta bridesmaid’s dress. Reminds me I should be marrying Marvin. Grumbles I’m smarter than my flush frumpy cousin. Grunts the planets are misaligned. Scraps of unasked-for counsel fly from Ma’s lips like a fortune teller in a hurry, one squinty eye on her crystal ball, one on her watch. Tellin’ you, she cautions. Outside, crows flutter, peck on the window. 

Ruby 

Spit-shines the coins in her penny loafers. Buffs leather. Freshens her mouth with Pepsodent. Brushes for five minutes. Gargles Lavoris. Laughs off those who judge her, blinding them with teeth white as bobby sox. Clicks open her compact, teases her cotton candy hair. Puffs Marlboro rings with her married boyfriend in his Plymouth at the Starlite drive-in, East of Eden ripping on the screen. Breathes  fiery with want, promise fogging the windows. Belly swelling a forecast.

After the Glitch and Garble of Their Latest Spat, Rita Looks to the Treetops

Jeb unwilling to change into clean clothes for the standing rib roast and scalloped potatoes she’d toiled over all afternoon. Rita stepping out onto the stoop, awaiting a whoosh of wind to lift her up and deposit her into a nest. Rita scrunching cozy into feathers, twigs, and speckled blue eggs a hairsbreadth from cracking. Jeb leaving for work the next morning. Rita waving a wing. Whipping around. Flicking tail. Dropping hello’s on her husband. 

Mikki Aronoff lives in New Mexico, where she writes tiny stories and advocates for animals. She has stories in Best Microfiction 2024 and in Best Small Fictions 2024 and upcoming in Best Microfiction 2025 and Best Small Fictions 2025.