The hot spray from the showerhead relaxed the tension in Nathan’s body as he stood under the water for several minutes. He savored the stream of hot water as it pelted his tense neck and shoulders.
Josslyn made crepes garnished with strawberries and blueberries. She set aside a bowl of grapes and a plate of bran muffins with a tub of vegetable spread.
While the crepes were grilling, she halved the cantaloupe and the honeydew melon, scooped out the seeds, then diced them into cubes. She put them into a large ceramic fruit bowl.
After Nathan stepped out of the shower, he peered into the mirror below three recessed lights that illuminated his face.
An unnatural, bright white light flashed with a weird brilliance for a second. It washed over the entire bathroom. Everything seemed to take on an indefinable appearance.
When Nathan gazed around the bathroom and into the mirror, everything was the same, yet different. It was akin to being high on a mind-altering substance. His facial features morphed to make him appear several years older than his age. It was as if another man had stepped inside and meshed with Nathan’s body, which changed his appearance, but not so drastic that he’d be unrecognizable.
Nathan stared at his own reflection, transfixed. He felt dissociated from his inner being within its carnal flesh-and-blood container. It was almost as if he didn’t know who he was. At the same time, he questioned who the other person—or being—was.
Josslyn checked the crepes and noticed movement on the griddle. She waved away the steam that wafted up to her face. She screamed in horror and shoved the griddle away from her. It clattered across the island. She looked in the fruit bowls, at the bran muffins, and the vegetable spread and was filled with revulsion to the point of nausea.
Maggots writhed and squirmed about and wiggled their way in and out of the food.
Nathan tilted his head to one side and craned his neck, then raised his brows. He continued to look at his own reflection in the mirror, still transfixed.
The same bright white light flashed again, illuminating the entire bathroom for a second.
Nathan snapped out of his trance. He shook his head to clear the fog in his mind and eyed himself in wonderment. He was himself again.
Nathan came into the kitchen while he buttoned his shirt, looking as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He noticed an angry and frustrated Josslyn scraping the contents of the griddle into the waste bin with a rubber spatula. “What happened?” he signed.
“Oh, you’re not gonna believe this,” Josslyn signed. She put the griddle in the kitchen sink and turned on the hot water. She then went to the island and picked up the package of bran muffins with a thumb and forefinger and tossed it into the bin. “The crepes, bran muffins, and fruits were full of maggots.” She picked up two ceramic bowls from the island and showed them to Nathan, who looked with curiosity and disgust when he saw the little creatures wiggling about. Josslyn then proceeded to dump them in the bin and placed the bowls in the sink. She turned on the hot water and swished the maggots down the garbage disposal.
“And, we know who is responsible for this.” She let out an exasperated sigh, then handed Nathan the trash bag to take outside. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, then pulled out a new liner and put it into the tall kitchen trash bin. “I’ll just make another batch and hope there won’t be a repeat scenario.”
“Tell you what,” Nathan signed as he set down the bag and drew himself closer to Josslyn. “How about we go out to eat instead? It would be good for us and the kids to get out of the house for a couple hours and maybe go to a movie afterward.” He kissed her, then left the kitchen to put out the trash bag.
Josslyn rinsed the dishes and the griddle. A spoon slipped through her fingers and fell into the garbage disposal. She had misgivings about retrieving the spoon. With trepidation, she put her hand through the mouth of the garbage disposal and felt around within the dark confines to get the spoon, all the while keeping an eye on the wall switch.
The switch for the garbage disposal was down, which indicated that it was OFF. It then moved in an upward direction by a few millimeters, as if it were in the process of being flipped to the ON position.
Josslyn yanked her hand from the mouth of the garbage disposal. With her other hand, she placed it on the wall switch to ensure it stayed in the OFF position. She then put her hand in the garbage disposal, felt the handle of the spoon, grabbed it, and retrieved it. She rinsed it under a stream of hot water and put it into the dishwasher. Other utensils and kitchenware were rinsed and loaded into the dishwasher while the remainder were still in the sink. She filled the dishwasher’s soap tray with detergent, then went to get the rest of the utensils and kitchenware when she noticed they were not in the sink.
Where did they go? she thought. If they went in the garbage disposal, I'm not putting my hand down there again.
She leaned over to peer within the darkness.
The switch flipped ON.
Forks and steak knives ejected out of the mouth of the garbage disposal. Some flew straight up and others went to the right, to the left, and even over her head. They missed the skin of her face by an inch.
Josslyn reeled backward from the sink and looked at the ceiling. Forks, steak knives and other sharp utensils were embedded in the ceiling.