Fire. Water.
Story by Avital Gad-Cykman	(Read author interview)	October 16, 2004
The son flies an airplane over the handrail. The daughter yells she won't wash her hair. The son throws a bomb at her, into the living room. The daughter looks for the electric heater. The mother washes the dishes. The father walks the dog outside.
The son rides the mezzanine's half wall. The daughter says she will die, because the day is too cold for a shower. The son, he slips down the handrail, a small skate in his hands. The daughter, she carries the heater to the bathroom. The son piles blankets by the bathroom to build a barricade. The mother washes dishes in the kitchen. The father walks the dog outside.
The son kicks the bathroom door open. The daughter screams she is cold. The son sends the skate into the bathroom. The daughter drags one blanket inside. The son looks at the bathroom mirror. The daughter is naked. The son laughs out loud. The mother washes dishes. The father walks the dog outside.
The daughter shouts she'll show around the picture with the son's butt out. The son dives onto the floor for his skate and his jet. The daughter cries he should not see her. The son turns on the water to fly his jet through water falls. The daughter shows the finger to the son. The son throws his skate at the daughter. The daughter shouts, "Mother! Father!" The mother washes dishes. The father walks the dog outside.
The son jumps up and down like a monkey. The daughter leaps at the son. The son bumps into the electric heater, and he and the heater fall down. The daughter throws the blanket at him. The son gets up and covers her head with the blanket. The daughter says she is warm and good. The son pushes the daughter at the water. The daughter falls over the heater with the blanket over her head. The son drops the jet, the bombs, the skate and pulls her from the heater. The blanket's hem turns black. The mother washes the dishes. The father walks the dog outside.
The daughter falls. The son pulls. The daughter rises. Falls. Rises. Throws. Pulls. The son. The daughter. The electric heater. The water in the shower. Fire. Water. The mother washes the dishes. The father walks the dog outside.
Avital Gad-Cykman lives on an island in Brazil. Her work can be found in Glimmer Train, Prism International, Stand Magazine, Other Voices, Happy, and AIM Quarterly among others, and also in easily googled online publications. She's thinking about adopting another dog and publishing a story collection and a novel.
A native of Ohio, Marty D. Ison lives with his wife transplanted in the sands of the Gulf of Mexico. He studied fine arts at Saint Petersburg College. In addition to the visual arts, he writes poetry, short stories, and novels. See more of Ison's work here.
This story appeared in Issue Six of SmokeLong Quarterly .
Money on the Eyes
On the Inside of a Horse's Skull
Breakfast in America
Rabbit Karma
Getting Religion
The Green Dress
Smoky Clothes
The Nub
Swallow Whole
Dead Weight
Instructions for a Son upon Finding Something of his Father's
Slip it In