Fruit On The Bottom

by Maura Yzmore

About the Author: Maura Yzmore writes short fiction and long equations somewhere in the American Midwest. Her work has appeared in Flash Fiction Online, The Arcanist, Utopia Science Fiction Magazine, and elsewhere. She is a member of the HWA. Website: https://maurayzmore.com.

Excerpt

I couldn’t believe it happened again. Was I losing my mind?

I closed the fridge, took a deep breath, and called Ray at work.

“Did you eat my yogurt last night?” I asked.

“You know I don’t touch that stuff. Why?”

“It’s gone.”

“What do you mean it’s gone? Didn’t you just buy a couple of four-packs, like, yesterday?”

“So, I’m not crazy,” I said. “You saw them too?”

“Yeah, when I went to grab a beer. Figured you must be having your stomach issues again.”

“Well, the yogurt’s all gone now,” I said.

“Weird,” Ray said. “Are you sure you weren’t sleep-eating? You’ve been getting kinda chunky lately.”

I felt a spasm in my abdomen.

“No, I wasn’t sleep-eating.” I almost added he would’ve known that if he had stayed over instead of sneaking out after I’d fallen asleep, but thankfully I stopped myself. The last thing I needed was him berating me again for my clinginess, so I said I’d see him later and hung up.

I’d never had any sleepwalking experiences, but part of me wondered if Ray was right. If I had been getting up and eating in secret.

I turned the whole kitchen upside down, looking for empty yogurt containers, but found nothing.

Another painful twist in my gut.

I had to find out what was happening.

I had to get a camera.

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