Permission

Cuddling her baby, Cassie went to answer the door.

Anna, eyes bright beneath hooded lids, smiled at her. “I came to see my newest neighbor.” She bent forward and peered into the baby’s face. “Oooh, he’s so sweet I could just eat him up.” She held out her arms. “May I?”

Pride welled up in Cassie’s chest. “Sure.”

With a sudden sinuous motion, Anna took the baby, popped him in her mouth, and swallowed him whole.

Unable even to scream, Cassie stared at the bulge in the woman’s midsection.

“What?” Anna gave her a puzzled look. “You said I could.”

Colorized

The drab little man in the gray suit entered the bar at five o’clock as usual, huddled on the same bar stool he always did, and waited to order his usual martini.

An almost pretty woman perched on the next stool smiled at him as if they were going to be good friends. Then a fellow wearing a loud shirt approached and handed her a rose. As she got up to follow him, a single petal fluttered to the floor.

“Your usual?” the bartender asked.

The man glanced at the rose petal, straightened his shoulders. “I’ll have red wine today.”

A Drop of Honey

A drop of honey formed on the vaulted ceiling.

He strained against his bonds. How much more could he take? The drop slammed into his forehead with all the force of a sledgehammer.

Through his pain, he heard a loud drone. He turned his head.

Two feet away, the yellow-jacketed silhouette of McQueen stared at him, immobile except for her rapidly beating wings. “If you had not meddled, you would not be in this sticky situation. Tell me who hired you.”

“None of your beeswax.” The words scraped his throat.

“Tell me,” McQueen demanded.

The honey began its downward journey.