Dad Believes in Shotguns

Emmy makes Mr. Tooth and Lady—square-ish, white, and perfectly matched—dance and cheer in high-pitched voices, “We’re getting married!”

Emmy assures them, “Mum says ‘there’s no such thing as a happy marriage,’ but you’ll make a lovely family!”

Mr. Tooth and Lady stand at the tissue-box altar.

“But where are the guests?” 

Emmy scoots to the couch, tilts her mother’s jaw open. She avoids the missing part of mum’s face, just as she avoids the kitchen where dad sleeps in a lake of blood. 

Bony bits of mum provide good options. 

“Or …” Emmy touches her own front teeth.

Reneé Bibby (she/her) is a writer based in Tucson, Arizona. She teaches at The Writers Studio and reads for Brink. Her work has appeared in Fractured Lit, Luna Station Quarterly, Taco Bell Quarterly, The Worcester Review, and Wildness. Her stories have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions. Reneé coordinates a yearly Rejection Competition for writers—all writers welcome! More at reneebibby.com.