A flash fiction story by Brian Robinson.
Amy stood staring into her bedroom mirror. “Just look at my fat belly Tom.”
“You’re pregnant pet. I think you’ll find a fat belly goes with the territory.”
“But I’m not that far gone. I shouldn’t be this big.”
“Try laying off the bread. You know that causes bloating.”
Amy adopted an indignant pose. “I haven’t been eating loads of bread.”
“You expect me to believe that. The peanut butter is practically all gone and I haven’t had any. You’ve been having secret sandwiches haven’t you?”
Amy got into bed, but no sooner had she snuggled up against Tom when she thought she heard a noise. She lifted her head from the pillow. “Did you hear that? There’s someone downstairs.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Tom said. “You probably left the dishwasher on.”
“You need to go and check. I won’t get to sleep otherwise.”
Tom got up dutifully and went to investigate. But as he was half way down the stairs he froze. He too could hear a noise coming from the kitchen. As he cautiously approached the doorway he could clearly see a small figure standing by the worktop. She seemed to be busy doing something. He moved closer. It was a small girl dressed in a nightdress. “Who are you?” Tom asked.
“Can’t you tell? I’m your daughter Molly.”
“But I haven’t got a daughter.”
“And what do you think that is upstairs in Mummy’s tummy, a gerbil?”
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m making a peanut butter sandwich. You always told me peanut butter sandwiches help keep the monsters away. Monsters hate peanuts.”
“I don’t understand,” Tom said. “Where have you come from? Why are you here?”
“Look, I don’t understand either. You’ll have to ask an adult.”
Tom began to move closer still but as soon as he did so Molly turned and held out both her hands as if to push him backwards. “You mustn’t come any closer. You shouldn’t really be seeing me at all. All I need to do is make this sandwich and get straight back to bed. And you need to get back to mummy. She’ll be wondering what’s going on.”
The next day at breakfast Amy sat reading the morning paper. “Have you seen this? Apparently, we’re being hit by a massive gravitational wave. They think two black holes have collided somewhere in deep space and then exploded.”
“That might just explain it,” Tom mumbled. “The future is somehow washing over the present.”
“What was that?”
“Oh nothing pet. Did I tell you I’ve had a premonition last night? We’re going to have a baby girl.”
“Well, there’s a fifty percent chance you’re right. And if it is a girl I’ve decided to call her Molly.” Amy hesitated. “You okay with that?”
“Yes, I think I quite like Molly.”
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