Karen Cruz

Cookie Tin

He's home and I flip open my phone and see it's 2am. I pretend to be asleep. The woman in the living room is painting her toe nails. He slams into the couch to kiss her shoulder, but she just yells about the paint job he ruined. I can hear glass crashing into the wall. She giggles and plays it off, begging for a smile. He starts yelling for the first time in years and his denial breaks into boiling hatred. With every breath my mind screams "Go!" The windows in the house are all barred except the kitchen window. That window is my only chance.