Matt spied Felicia stirring a pot on the stove and took a deep breath to bolster his courage. The aroma of brandy and cream caused his stomach to growl. He could tell the sauce would be peppercorn, and she only cooked peppercorn steak when in a good mood.
“Hi honey,” he said and gave her a peck on the cheek.
Felicia smiled. “Dinner’s almost ready.”
Matt slid onto the stool at the countertop behind her. He took another deep breath. He knew she wouldn’t like what he had to say. “Where’s Mikey?” he asked.
“He’s down for a nap. We played too long this morning and he’s tuckered out now.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Why?”
Matt shrugged. “Since we brought him home six months ago, we never get to be alone.” He saw her shoulders stiffen. Here it comes.
Her stirring paused and then resumed after several seconds. “He needs my attention right now.”
“He can entertain himself sometimes.”
She picked up the peppermill and gave the grinder several harsh twists over the steaming pot. “We’ve had this conversation before.”
He remained silent as the metal blades turned to crush the peppercorns. She grunted when she gave it a couple more twists. He wondered if Felicia fantasized that it was his neck. “Honey, I’m just saying that we need more time together. Without interruptions.”
Felicia slammed the peppermill onto the counter and spun to face him. “You’re still jealous of Mikey, aren’t you?”
Matt snorted. “Please. I’m not jealous of a dog.”
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This is my response to this week’s Trifecta writing challenge. This challenge is different because it is a community voted challenge. That means the editors don’t choose the winners – the readers do. (Voting starts Thursday at 7PM Eastern time and remains open for 12 hours.)
The challenge is to write a response using the following word and definition:
CRUSH (transitive verb): to reduce to particles by pounding or grinding <crush rock>
If you want to join the fun and write your own response, you can get to Trifecta’s site by clicking the tricycle picture above.
JannaTWrites 
yay, for blog subscriptions!!
this was so funny, dogs/babies, same difference right? Everyone needs a little piece of you and you don’t get a piece….WINK 😉
liked it, made me giggle. I could hear him gruffly say “I’m not jealous of a dog.”
Your comment cracked me up, Kir! Yeah, he’d never admit it, but he was definitely jealous of the dog 🙂
By the way, thank you for subscribing (I’m a bit behind and I hadn’t noticed that.) I’ll be by your place again soon!
Hahahaha! That cracked me up! xD Wonderful little piece!
Glad you got a laugh from it, Draug. And I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought such a situation would be funny 🙂
Brilliant! Thanks for the laughs, I wondered where this was going. It’s great on a phone, I couldn’t see the dog.
Thanks, Catherine! I tried to but in line breaks to nudge the picture down a bit, so I’m glad it worked okay at least on a phone. Nothing like being silly to take the stress out of Monday!
Glad your sense of humor is still intact and shining through . . . you crushed the challenge! 😀
Hoping you get good news soon.
Hahahaha! Crushed. Good one, Nancy!
The good news that the pending test was negative…the not-so-good- news is they don’t know what is going on. He seemed closer to ‘normal’ today, so maybe whatever it is happens to be improving on its own?
Oh, good. Hope this turns out to just be a “blip” on the radar screen that resolves on its own.
Thanks, Nancy…me too. We take him for retesting in two weeks. If all is clear, then all is clear 🙂
LOL love it ! Cute pup too.
Thanks, Becca! The dog is actually our eleven-year-old Yorkie, Josie.
Oh this made me laugh! I did not see that twist coming.
Great! I’m glad the storyline wasn’t too obvious, SilverGardenia. I appreciate you stopping by to read it.
Great punchline!
…an iguana on the other hand would’ve worked quite well!
An iguana would make for an interesting alternate story line 🙂 Thanks for reading, Widdershins!
Awesome 🙂 That Mikey is a stud!
Glad you enjoyed the story! Mikey might be a stud in the story, but the picture is of our “manly” girl, Josie (minus her super-cute purple jacket.) Glad you stopped by, Tori!
I love this! Ididn’t see that coming at all…..Mikey is so sweet:) Dogs and children have a lot in common.
I like hearing that the ending was a surprise – that’s what I try for (but don’t always succeed.) Dogs and children can both be time-consuming – and all-consuming if you’re not careful. Thanks so much for stopping by, Jennie.
Very true – my sister has a 7 and 8 year old and two elderly dogs, one of each (one dog one child) with health problems, so you’re definitely right on the time-consuming part. But the love we get and give them makes it all worth it.
That’s right, Jennie. Life without my pets would be so dull (but my carpet would look fabulous :))
Oh, sad. I know my comment is an odd one – but I feel sorry for the man. I think he also deserves some time with his wife – that will be good for the relationship with his wife. It is a difficult balancing act though.
Your comment isn’t odd at all, Imelda…you’re just a compassionate person. Couples need to make time for each other regardless of whether the distraction is a dog or a baby (or something else entirely.)
Yeah! Dogs can be demanding sometimes! Especially when they are young. Good piece.
Thanks for stopping by to read my story, Joe!
Cute! How’s your little doggy doing BTW?
We’ve had Josie just over a year now. Two weeks ago, they increased her phenobarbital dosage, but thankfully, no major seizures since January. Thanks for asking, Patty!
Great punchline! Feel sorry for the man though. 🙂
Yeah, she’s a bit temperamental, but I bet they work it out. Glad you stopped by, Tessa.
Oh, no! Bad enough to not have time because of a baby, but to not get any time because of a dog? That made me laugh, but it’s not so far from the truth in many households.
We treat our dogs well…but not that well 🙂 Maybe he’ll get more time with her when the dog starts chewing on her favorite shoes? Thanks for reading, Annabelle.
I love this. I needed this laugh today!
I’m so glad it gave you the laugh you needed, Deanabo. I like to hear that 🙂
Great twist, Janna! Very funny story (I’ve thought the same while using the pepper grinder before!) 😀
I don’t own a peppermill, but maybe it would be good stress relief. If grinding pepper doesn’t work, throwing it might 🙂 Thanks for stopping by to read the story, Dianne!
Many times I can be jealous of our puppies. Mr BC sometimes uses them as an excuse.
I’m sorry to hear that, Katie. My mom has the same issue, with my dad doting on their dog. Maybe if you start barking at him, you’ll get some attention?
I enjoyed this so much. You were brilliant with this prompt.
Thanks so much for reading and sharing your thoughts on the story, Ruby!
loved this one; the way it unravels is nothing short of brilliant!
Thanks for the wonderful praise, Rashmenon. I’m glad you enjoyed the story 🙂
fantasizing it was his neck! been there. cute twist.
Me too 🙂 Thanks for reading, Kymm!
Haha – first of all, your depiction of a low-grade argument was so spot on it made me a little tense. Second, dogs are great and all, but c’mon! Loved the descriptions and slow building tension.
Well, I’m glad you didn’t excuse yourself halfway through just to get away from the ‘discussion’ 🙂 Yeah, I would say that dog might be a little too pampered! Thanks for reading, Brian.
Having a dog is like having a baby. A baby that never grows up! They demand your full attention, even if they’ve got other pets to play with.Well crafted, Janna!
They do need lots of attention, Debbie (and with 3 dogs and 3 cats in our house, there’s lots of competition for top pet.) Thanks for reading the story, Debbie!
very cute! I love that Mikey’s a dog, and not the baby it kind of sounded like he was. Dogs definitely take more time than you’d t hink they do – and all they want to do is be with you, all the time 🙂
I have cats and dogs and dogs require much more time and attention. I had hoped it sounded like a baby until the end, so it’s good to know I pulled it off. Thanks for stopping by, Lexy!
Very funny twist — loved it! And this is why we haven’t gotten a new dog since our dogs died. Too much time for our family right now.
Thanks so much, Iasoupmama! I appreciate you stopping by to read it. When things slow down a bit, I hope you get another dog or two. They are wonderful companions!
I love this story, Janna. I thought about writing for this prompt with some sort of cooking ingredient, too, but it never materialized. I like the “twist” of the neck–something a lot of us can relate to! 🙂 Nicely done!
Thanks, Sandra! This one was a tough one because I didn’t want to crush rocks since that was the sample, and all the other crushes I came up with were the first definition (crushing by pressure.) I’m glad you stopped by today 🙂
Awww. What a cute little puppy! And what a great
response to the prompt!
Thanks for reading, Tina. She doesn’t look like it, but the dog in the picture is actually eleven!
This indeed is great stuff. Real original humour, you have made my day!
Thanks
Shakti
I’m glad you enjoyed the humor, Shakti. Thanks for stopping by!
Haha, loved it! I really love all the little non-verbal details, especially the way she handles the pepper grinder. Very skillful!
Your comment made me smile, GodGirl. I’m happy you liked the story!
And here I was thinking I was back at the hospital doing my electives and hearing another couple fighting over their sick child! 😀 LOL.
😀 I certainly don’t want to bring back traumatic memories, Habibadanyal! Thanks for reading.