Mixed Drinks

by Brian Steel

The sun was in the mood for setting, but shone its last few rays of light into the small kitchen of Bill and Julia Sweeney of Ashland, Wisconsin, and coated the brown tablecloth between them in a warm, temporary glow. “We’ve only got another week left,” he said, looking around the kitchen, “but we can move in with my sister and her family.” “We’ll have to sell the car when we get there,” she said, “but I hear Milwaukee’s got real good public buses.” “Hey honey, there’s half a bottle left in the cupboard from last week. I’ll tell you what, you get the SoCo and I’ll get the soda.” She smiled and pushed herself up from the wobbly card table, and as he fished for the half-empty liter of ginger ale in the back of a nearly empty fridge, he vowed that tonight, for at least a couple of hours, they would taste what sweetness they still could, if only to stamp out the bitterness on both their tongues.

6S - C3

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