Written by John Davis Frain

Ethylene Glycol

ethylene glycol
(c) 2017 Murphy Frain. All rights reserved.

Drink for Justice

Reading time: 1 minute

Way I figure it, Frain made his choice three years ago.E

People collect things. Frain collected license plates. From the cars we stole.

One morning, this is three winters ago, it’s five degrees outside. We’re coming home from 7-11 on account of Frain’s needing to address his Mountain Dew fix. Not even planning a job, but this lady warms up her SUV and scurries back inside.

We look at each other. Frain with his toothy grin working that Big Gulp straw.

“Get to work, Wide Load.” Only he calls me that, don’t get yo’ ass any ideas. I lumbered ‘cross the street. Shimmied behind the wheel. Drove to Felipe’s Garage, place we part out cars.

That’s where he noticed the plates. SUV belonged to Detective Bridget O’Flynn. Next day, Frain dimed me out. I got thirty-four months.

Released fourteen days ago. Mixed the ethylene glycol into Frain’s Big Gulp fourteen hours ago. They say it’s a horrible pain going this way. Judging by the theatrics he went through in the back seat, I’d say they’re right. Wish he’d hung on for a few more hours though. I was wantin’ a little more justice.

    *     *     *

My old buddy Wide Load Johnson makes his annual appearance in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Will Frain recover? Of course he will. Might even haunt the Fat Man later in the month, who knows.

Meantime, Frain’ll revive because TOMORROW IS KINDA SPECIAL. Don’t tell her, but my wife gets to vanquish me. I’ll let you know how gleeful she is if/when we go out Friday night. And how do you suppose she’ll do it?

  • Fire extinguisher
  • Flyswatter
  • Fork
  • Frying pan
  • Fudge brownies

Now if you’ll excuse me, my life insurance administrator wants my signature. Says my wife wants to double my policy. She must love me twice as much as she used to!

25 thoughts on “Ethylene Glycol”

    1. Elise, you’re too kind. (Don’t change that!)

      By the way, I’m only referring to the last part of you comment when I say that. Encouraging my wife to kill me with a flyswatter … well, that probably lands a good ways below “too kind.”

      Liked by 1 person

      1. You come back like that dread cat we’ve heard tell of from time to time. My wishing your wife to find a lethal use for a flyswatter is purely academic. I would never wish you any harm beyond that you do to yourself 🙂 I enjoy your writing too much and am still hoping for a glance at that mythical manuscript of yours.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Poor Wide Load. You are such a bad influence on him! I say you got what you deserved.

    I’m definitely curious as to how your wife will finally accomplish her life-long dream. Maybe “stick a fork in him, he’s done.” =)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Okay, I don’t know if you’re like me, but sometimes I get one line that I fall in love with and try to write a flash story to achieve that line. You just nailed it. “Stick a fork in him, he’s done.” That EXACTLY the line I tried to write to.

      Alas, I failed. Couldn’t get it to work. So it was back to the drawing board. I still think there’s a story there, but I couldn’t make it happen for Friday.

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    1. Can it be that I have forgotten that detail of Rapunzel? Well, yes, apparently that can be. Now I have to go read about it. Thanks for the lead! Maybe I should wait until G comes along though.

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  4. Your first mistake was calling him Wide Load. They say revenge is best served cold … you should have seen this one coming. I don’t think I’ll ever look at one of those Big Gulp cups quite the same way again 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh, Joann, great line that revenge is best served cold. Wish I’d remembered that to sneak it in somewhere. Then again, I was trying to bring the word count down, so who knows if I woulda been able to get it in the final draft anyway. Make sure you put your Big Gulp lid on TIGHT!

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    1. I think you could pick up a few after-market accessories to soup up your basic flyswatter and — voila! — you’ve got yourself a murder weapon. But hey, what do I know about creative murder weapons?!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you so much, Celia. My son has developed a love for photography over the past year, so I’m trying to contract him to find photos to match the story. In the case of E, we made a last-minute switch because I loved the photo so much, so I had to come with a story to match. I should’ve added in a line where Wide Load got the anti-freeze (with its ethylene glycol) from his own car engine. Darn! A day late again.

      Liked by 1 person

  9. They say sodas are bad for you, though I don’t think that’s quite what they mean. At least this time you went out drinking your favorite soda instead of at the dentist. Mountain Dew is better than the dentist’s chair, right? I’d have to pick pineapple papaya tea from QT for my death beverage.

    I’m guessing your wife won’t be using the frying pan if you’re going out.

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