It's Still Life

One Saturday Afternoon

Dad’s sitting in his stressless chair.
By the window.
TV remote in one hand,
an air gun resting on the windowsill.

The gun is filled with buckshot.

The gawd-damned deer,
      as he calls them because he says
      he doesn’t curse near kids, and I’m 6,
are eating his raspberries.

And the blueberries, too.

They’ve pulled the fleece
right off the bushes like
it’s a strip-tease.

One of them tries to climb the apple tree.

And then the rabbits arrive.
Start eating Mum’s swiss chard.
Well, that sent Dad mental …

He bolts out of his chair, shouting
“Gawd-damned devil’s spawn”
and starts shooting at the deer.

Mum shouts over the racket,
“Bob, did you remember to move my car?”

And the deer flee in every direction,
except our direction, and I ask Dad,

“What’s a spawn?”

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Written for Unicorn Challenge 6 October 2023. Flash fiction in response to their image. Some artwork is created using Midjourney AI, and is identified as such in the ALT text or captioned. Imagery and poems ©Misky 2023.