The House of Flies

Prudence walked in the door, straight to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. The cap was off the orange juice, and she slammed the refrigerator door and screamed, “Roshan!”

He answered without tearing his eyes from the 55 inch HDTV. “You’re home already?”

She stormed into the living room and fisted her hands on her hips. “You left the cap off again, babe.”

“I’m sorry, hon. I really am this time; I just didn’t even think about it. I spent half the day at this hippie gift store shopping for Mom, and the police were directing traffic on First because of the traffic jam on the interstate, and I didn’t even think about it, I swear.” Roshan got up from the couch and went to give Prudence a kiss on the cheek. “Forgive me once more, my love? Don’t let my past define me.”

Any semblance of anger melted away, and Prudence turned her head to return his kiss. “You are too charming for your own good sometimes, you know that?”

He grinned and tousled her hair, knowing full well how she hated that. “I know it. Embrace the madness!”

“Ugh! You know I hate that! I’ve got to take a shower before we go to the engagement dinner. Work was hell today.”

“Okey doke. I’ll come get dressed in fifteen,” Roshan promised as he flopped back onto the couch.

Prudence shook her head as she ran up the stairs, stripping her work clothes off as she went. Her fiance was something else, but he always knew how to get her back to a good mood after a bad day at work. She dropped everything into the hamper and turned the shower on to heat up as she brushed out her hair. A fly buzzing around her head distracted her, and she swatted at the annoying insect with her hairbrush.

She stepped into the shower, wet her hair, and as she worked the shampoo in, she heard more buzzing. Prudence opened her eyes to a veritable cloud of flies on the other side of the shower door. She gave a sharp squeak of surprise and hurriedly rinsed the suds from her hair.

“Roshan!” she called, then again, louder, after she shut the water off. “Roshan! Ugh, I know good and well that he can’t hear me up here.” Prudence braced herself to step out of the shower and into the flies. She took a deep breath, slid the door open, and snagged a towel off the bar in her rush from the bathroom.

“Roshan!” once more, as she dripped her way down the stairs. “The bathroom–”

“Surprise!” Two dozen voices chimed, and Prudence froze. Her house was full of people staring at her, and she was naked and dripping water on the linoleum. She dropped the towel; the surprise party had surprised her.

Wed Stories: A Change of Circumstances

This one is just begging for some Crowd Writing–have at it!!