I like the tone you set with this story. I’m going to call it “the everyday grotesque.”

I can’t do what you’ve done here: make us care about a normal situation with normal people. They key to that, I think, is to realize and show that no one and nothing is actually normal—everything is remarkable if you look right. :)

thanks. i actually wrote all three of these pieces at least ten years ago- i’m trying to revisit some of my older writing, and see what i was doing differently. i’m glad to hear there’s something here that works. :)