Mrs. Garter

Mrs. Garter’s husband died and she moved to a town where she knew no one. She started out small, in an apartment. Met no one at the complex’s pool. Worked afternoons at the grocery store. One night she had a nightmare. Mr. Garter was in it; he was a real estate man desperately escaping a pack of dogs in suits and ties. Cello music. Sudden earthquake, and she was falling through space with winking stars all around. She woke and thought of the man who winked at her in the market each afternoon when he bought a fifth of liquor.