About the Following Post

An edited version of the following post was published in the February 2012 issue of The Sun, a small literary magazine.

Warning Signs

My sister Em had a long walk uphill from high school to home. One hot day she bought a cold soda near school for the trek. When she got home, a little was left, so she put it in the fridge with a note: I spit in this. Em.  Knowing anything in the fridge was fair game for each of us seven kids, she thought the note would deter us from helping ourselves to some of her drink. Later, I was in the kitchen when she went to retrieve her stash. She smiled with satisfaction as she reached for the bottle, but stopping to look at the note, frowned. She slammed the fridge door shut, poured the drink into the kitchen sink, put the empty bottle and note in the trash and stormed off to her room. I retrieved the note and found that a brother had struck; an addendum to her note said: So did I. Ben.