A few minutes
later she came downstairs. He did not look at her.
She crossed the room and ejected a floppy diskette from the Joey,
and picked up a box of floppies sitting on the table. She placed
the items in her knapsack, hoisted the bag onto her shoulder, and
collected her small duffel bag at the doorway. Straightening
herself for a moment with her back to him, she spoke. "You're
gonna regret you did this, Peter." Then she was gone.
He sat down and glared at the smiley face. It returned his gaze,
passive, obedient, waiting for input. Just like everyone else, he
thought morosely, it wanted something from him.
At his side he felt the neck of a bottle protruding from between
the sofa cushions. He lifted it. A nearly empty bottle of wine.
Red wine.
And then it hit him. The bottle was the special Cabernet
Sauvignon Kate had given him on their first date, which they had
vowed to drink together when Wallaby turned ten years old.
"No!" he cried, and hurled the empty bottle at the evil smiley
face with its leering, shit-eating grin.
The monitor exploded in sparks and smoke, the smiley face gone
forever, and the room fell into silence and he was all alone.
* * *
"Greta?" Matthew called, stepping from room to room on the lower
floor of the house. He climbed the stairs. Soft, pleasant music
drifted out from the bedroom.
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