Italiks

UNEXPECTED

by Juleigh Howard-Hobson

The place is orderly, clean and bright. No

dust or spider webs or piles of clothing

heaped around. Everything’s arranged just so.

Books, spine out, on shelves. Nothing encroaching

upon the essentials of the rooms. Bed

taut, pillowcases matching six inches of

sheets folded down over the blankets, head

at the wall across from the door. Enough

walking room left clear to sweep and mop. Still

there is an unquiet thrum, a sense that

all’s not well and hasn’t been for years. Ill

suited to such a perfect habitat,

shoved in a locked space besides the dresser,

the skeletons in the closet fester.

Juleigh Howard-Hobson’s work can be found in Think Journal, Anti-Heroin Chic, Able Muse, Non-Binary Review, Birds Fall Silent in the Mechanical Sea (Great Weather for Media), Under Her Skin (Black Spot), and other venues. She’s been nominated for “The Best of the Net”, the Pushcart, the Elgin and the Rhysling. Her latest book is Curses, Black Spells & Hexes (Alien Buddha). She lives on the West Coast, up a bit from where you first think.