Brother’s Keeper
Cassandra
O’Sullivan Sachar
As he bashed the candlestick
into his brother’s head
over and over in a rage,
Jason felt the skull cave in.
Roaring his battle cry,
he tasted the metallic spray of
blood
on his lips.
Panting, Jason surveyed the
carnage.
Ethan’s crushed head
leaked dark liquid
and gray matter onto the carpet
like a split cantaloupe.
He knew then
that Ethan was dead,
that his sharp tongue was
stilled,
never to undermine
or belittle him again.
Now what?
Remembering his basement freezer,
Jason smiled. Ethan would take
up residence
with frozen peas and venison,
an icy, quiet grave.
Jason would become
his brother’s keeper.
Cassandra O'Sullivan
Sachar is a writer and
English professor living in small-town Pennsylvania. While most of her
published writing is educational, her personal essays, short stories, and flash
fiction have appeared or are forthcoming in Adelaide Literary Magazine, The
Dillydoun Review, Little Old Lady Comedy, The Dribble Drabble Review,
Friday Flash Fiction, 666: Dark Drabbles,
and Merlyn’s
Pen.