by Jacob Baugher

When the three sweating golfers in Speedos sink into the hotel’s Jacuzzi, I float to the pantry. Chef Jimmy never notices me. He’s too old to believe in ghosts. I grab onions, carrots, and the butcher knife too.

When I return, I add the veggies, some spices, crank up the heat. Conversations cease. They drift off to sleep.

I slit their throats, crack their heads. The sluggy, grey ramen slops into the bloody bubbles. I follow, nibble at their bones.

The stained Speedos float to the surface. Housekeeping will clean up later. For now, I slurp my noodly sausage soup.

Jacob Baugher

Jacob Baugher teaches Creative Writing at a small college in Ohio. You can find more of his work in Black Hare’s Deep Space, Area 51, and Dark Drabbles anthologies. He’s received honorable mentions for his work in the Writers of the Future contest and he co-edits a series of Fantasy and Science Fiction anthologies titled Continuum. His website is: authorjbaugher.com