It was the hottest day of the year, but he’d fallen asleep in the garden.
“I’m in agony,” whimpered Geoff, stepping into the kitchen, his face as scarlet as a cock’s comb. “I feel like my skin is being stretched off my face.”
Laura shook her head. “You’ve fried yourself, Geoff. You’re already starting to blister on your cheeks.”
“I’ve got that interview tomorrow,” he moaned. “What on earth am I going to do.”
She sighed. “You should have thought of that before you decided sunbathing in the garden was a good idea.”
“I thought a bit of colour would look good for tomorrow. I didn’t fall asleep on purpose. What can I do?”
“I guess I could pop out and get some Solarcaine from the chemist, that’ll at least relieve some of the pain and burning.” She picked up her car keys and headed to the door. “In the meantime, try some cucumber. There’s some in the fridge.”
An hour later she finally got back. “Sorry, the chemist down the road didn’t have any. I had to drive right across town before I could find some.” She looked at him lying on the bed. “Did the cucumber help?”
“No, bloody useless, I’m still in agony. I ate the whole damn stick too.”
“You weren’t meant to eat it, Geoff!”
He groaned and stood from the bed, holding his stomach. “And now I’ve got really bad gut ache.”
She shook her head as he rushed from the bedroom.
My daily micro fictions are no longer than 250 words and are inspired by word-of-the-day at www.dictionary.com
The word of the day for 24 November 2022 was “cucurbit“.
All stories & photography © 2022, DBA Lehane. All rights reserved. Please do not use or reproduce in any way without the expressed written permission of the author. Please contact me.
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