Light Lens : Trouble in fur

by T. Touris –

When he first met her he had sensed there was more to her than the shy, innocent vibe she exuded. His inner trouble sensor was in the red zone upon first exposure to herhard to get act. The sensor was smashed like a moth on a windshield when those amber eyes were cast upon him. She was armed to the teeth to take on suckers like him. The strawberry blonde in a fur coat – he never stood a chance.

It began with a missing DVD. He knew he had placed it in the usual spot, but it seemingly had vanished. A brief investigationuncovered what he knew all along; she was the culprit. Exposed to the sweet airs of innocence and trapped in a fog of self-delusion, he let it go. The nickel and dime stuff continued, trivial things gone missing – bits of paper, receipts, an occasional yogurt container – items of no consequence. It was almost cute. A harmless game she liked to play to keep his attention.

Little did he know she would soon turn his world upside down.

Climbing into bed one evening, he reached over and his hand fell upon the cold, barren top of his nightstand. As if someone had connected the table to 10,000 volt animal fencing, he immediately was jolted with a sense of horror and dread shooting through his body. Bewildered he stumbled through the darkened house searching for the one thing that got him through the long days. It was gone.

The next day his wife texted him a picture of the mangled remains. Returning home after work, defeated and demoralized, he climbed into bed exhausted. Remoteless and feeling humiliated, he got up and manually switched the TV to the Roku input. Slowly settling back into bed, he reached down and gave her a scratch behind the ear. She sighed contentedly, knowing that his training was complete.