She lost him to Betty who lost him to Sue.
She wants Jack back. Doesn’t care about the whowhatwhere. Doesn’t care that life isn’t fair.
She calls Jack from her sister’s phone. Jack blocked Janie’s number. “Being blocked is a sign of love,” she tells her sister. Her sister insists she is reading the wrong sign. “Some signs,” her sister says, “will lead you to the City Dump.”
Janie likes the idea of the dump and tells Jack to meet her there. Among the rest of the unwanted. How good will she look next to a tuna can?
Jack says okay, he’ll give it a go. I mean, why say no? But it all changes when Janie arrives, she drives to the spot where she told Jack to be, but see, he had other ideas. He called back the sister’s number and blah bitty blah blah blah, now Jack and Janie’s sister are out on the town.
It all adds up this one plus one. She’s not having fun and now, she’s out a sister, too.
Whatever will poor Janie do?
Francine Witte (she/her) has had flash fiction and poetry in Smokelong Quarterly, Wigleaf, and elsewhere. Her recent books are Dressed All Wrong for This and The Theory of Flesh. She lives in NYC and you can follow her on twitter @francinewitte