The Family Dinner Melts into Water

The Morbon family sat down for dinner at 8 o’clock in the evening. Father brought out the buckets of KFC. Plenty of original recipe for everyone, with a few pieces of extra crispy for Junior. He sat the bags down on the circular table in the kitchen, having to shove aside a pile of mail: bills, advertisements, and a jury summons for Mother. He moved aside the clutter and shoved the food into the middle.

Mother, Junior, and Sister took their seats. Father ran to the kitchen to get some paper plates and a couple six-packs of coke from the fridge. He handed these things to everyone, then fished out the plastic knives and sporks from the bags. The Family reached into the buckets, grabbing the greasy chicken, snatching the sides that they wanted. Mother took the coleslaw, Sister the mashed potatoes, Junior the macaroni and cheese, and Father was left with the fries. They spooned out their sides and ate their chicken. Father ate his meal while staring silently at the clock on the wall. Mother gazed at the pile of mail on the floor. Junior and sister looked at their food and only their food. No one talked. No one looked at anyone else. The only sounds in the room were chewing and swallowing.

In the next moment, The Morbon Family became completely still. Their jaws locked. Their skin began to droop and sag off of their bones. The hair on their heads and their bodies grew out and became rubbery, their tongues turned to mush, like cookies dunked in milk. Brown and green eyes became totally black. Lips turned a dark shade of blue and ears morphed into little watery bags of skin and cartilage.

Then, as the family was melting, their eyes popped from their sockets, the mouths unhinged, and torrents of water gushed from their eyes and mouths. Great rushing streams that hit the table and scattered food everywhere. They continued to pour out, until every bit of their bodies had changed to water. And then, all that was left of the Morbon family was a waterlogged carpet, right under the dining room table.

~ by thethingswethink on October 3, 2007.