When Sharon’s boyfriend walked out the gum chewing became a real problem. Sticks. Balls. Cubes. Her jaw moving even in her sleep. Discarded wads of it stuck under tables, in door jambs, on bathroom tiles. Spearmint. Peppermint. Cinnamon. The smells overwhelming anyone who still dared to visit. Her mother finally swooped in, took charge, took Sharon away and got her started in a 12-step program. She hired the boy who cleared snow in the winter to scrape and roll and pull out every bit of dead gum. Newly abstinent Sharon returned home and, after two days, started all over again.

Louella Lester

is a Winnipeg (Canada) writer and photographer. Her writing has appeared in journals such as New Flash Fiction, Blink-Ink, Flash Flood, Potato Soup, Cleaver, The Odd Magazine, Litro, Five Minutes, SoFloPoJo, The Dribble Drabble Review, and a variety of other journals and anthologies. Her book Glass Bricks (At Bay Press, April 2021), written in flash and micro, is a quirky look at her work life.

Author’s blog: Through Camera & Pen