milk

She is spilt milk crawling across this cold kitchen floor, kissing linoleum and soaking the socks covering my feet. Her presence is undeniable as I'm reflected below, still and staring into her milky mirror, her calcium saturating socks. Such a mess.
The phone rang and I turned recklessly to answer and sent her tumbling from the table. That's how it happened. I watched her fall in slow motion. The flash of a second that seemed like minutes. Like forever. I was helpless. I was a witness with dead hands as she fell from her perch and for that moment of free fall she was still safe, trapped in cardboard, her fluids shifting from side-to-side inside. Incognizant of the imminent impact.
(in slow motion)
-5
-4
-3
-2
-the phone is still ringing
-1
-A soggy crash cardboard crush and a forced exit.
She always said I was reckless, so fucking careless. I'm sorry, babe. I guess you were right.
Now she is silent and racing, spreading out from her crushed cardboard castle. And she's getting all over the place. Reminding me. Mocking me with her silence, spreading.
The captured eyes of a missing child and the black lines of a UPC code gaze heavenward, skyward, through the ceiling, the roof, beyond the beyond.
My eyes are focused on her escape. She's gushing profusely, silently. And all I can do is stare at the cause and effect. So fucking careless. So helpless. Hoping for a stoppage. A clotting. Something to cease the bleeding.
But nothing.
Nothing but the sound of rain drops splattering and tapping glass and pavement. And the phone.
The phone is still ringing.
With soaked socks and eyes trained on the calcium and carnage , I answer.
"H-Hello?"
"Hey, babe. What took you so long?"
"Oh, sorry, love. I, uh, sorta made a mess."
"You're so careless. Have I ever told you that?"
I force a chuckle and say, "Yeah, love, you're right. Hey, hurry home. I, I need you. I need you here. I need some help cleaning up this mess -- me."
"Aww, you poor thing. I'm on my way."
And tears fall, rippling my milky reflection below.

mc