A darker piece this time. Contains graphic violence and strong language.

The mind is a fickle thing. Many of us are already on fire, quietly at war with ourselves. When the outside world demands more, we throw fuel on those flames until smoke fills our heads. Our sanity is the first to choke. And without it, dangerous things can happen.

Alexis’s head dropped, coming within an inch of the freshly decorated cookie before she jerked it back up. As she set the icing bag down, her other hand flew up, swatting her own cheek. Her skin stung, leaving a bright red handprint slashed across it. She wasn’t sure if it was punishment for almost ruining the cookies or a desperate attempt to force her brain to function.

“Wake up Alexis,” she muttered to herself. “I think it’s time for more coffee. Hmmm.. should I make more coffee Lucy?” She looked down to ask her dog Lucy.

The apricot standard poodle was in a deep sleep, twitching as if it were chasing a squirrel. Alexis stood and while stepping over her dog, a single corner of her mouth pulled upward into a soft sneer. She hovered there, balancing on one foot, forcing the sneer into a smile before extending her leg past Lucy so she wouldn’t disturb her.

“Glad one of us is getting sleep,” she said as she walked into the kitchen.

Alexis stood in front of the red Nespresso machine as she waited for the espresso to pour into the dirty coffee mug she’d been using for two days. Her eyes drifted across her house. The open concept floor plan and the mess of running a home baking business blurred all the rooms into one, the view mirroring the inside of her mind. Piles of dirty baking sheets were stacked on top of the stove, packaging boxes scattered across the dining room table, and a layer of flour sat on the peninsula.

Her eyes met her pillow and neatly folded blanket on the couch, and she was reminded of the last day she slept. “Has it really been three days? Fuck.” she whispered as she pulled her phone out of her pocket to confirm the date of the texts that came in. The ones from the loyal pain-in-the-ass customers and their last-minute huge orders. She stupidly agreed to them, knowing it would cost her sleep. But they needed the money. Her husband had been pulling doubles constantly to help make ends meet.

Alexis dropped an ice cube into the espresso, swirled the mug, and slammed it back. “I guess I’ll sleep when they’re— when I’m dead,” she shouted as she put another espresso pod into the machine.

She jolted as her phone vibrated in her hand. “Of course Carl is texting me at the crack of dawn.” She looked at the time and realized it was already noon. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Please don’t be on your way to pick up the order.”

She opened her phone to read the text. Her shoulders dropped as she realized she had over eight hours to finish and package the order. As she reached for her second cup of espresso, her phone vibrated again.
“What now? I gave you a thumbs up. Is that not sufficient enough for you Carl?”

Without thinking, she slammed the hot espresso back. “Goddammit, cunt fucker!” She threw the mug against the wall as the espresso burned her tongue and throat.

Lucy jolted awake, running out of the cookie room and straight to the front door, a vicious bark following her.

Alexis angrily opened the new message on her phone. This time it was from Dave, the other last minute order. She had seven and a half hours to finish that one. She gave the message a thumbs up and hurried back to her decorating station, leaving the shattered mug on the floor.

Alexis finished both cookie orders with an hour to spare. She scarfed down a couple of protein bars, fixed her messy bun, ensuring no hair was loose, and began working on the next orders. The ones she booked over two months ago and should have been almost done by now.

There were three stations going, one mixer running to make dough, the rolling and cutting station on the peninsula, and the oven. She alternated between each station, working as quickly as possible.

She was in the middle of putting a batch of cookies back into the oven for a few more minutes to get that nice golden brown when her phone vibrated. A text from Carl.

One minute away. I don’t have much time so please make sure everything is ready to go when I get there.

Her hand shook as Alexis gripped her phone, staring at the text.

“One fucking minute. What kind of heads up is that? Fucking asshole. Remember, Alexis, be nice. You need his money. Although you technically already have it. But still…”

“Beep. Beep. Beep.”
“Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.”
“Woof. Woof. Woof.”

The cookie timer and doorbell went off simultaneously, sending her dog into a barking fit. Alexis froze as the noises blended together, pounding through her body, starting in her eardrums and growing louder until they reached her racing heart.

The heavy knocking on the door snapped her out of the daze. She stopped the timer, threw her dog in the backyard and raced to the front door.

“Hi Carl. Sorry. I’m in the middle of a bunch of things right now. Come in,” she said, stepping aside.

“I’m already behind schedule, so can we hurry this up?” Carl said as he walked in, staring at his phone.

“Yep. I’ll go grab the cookies now.” Alexis pressed her lips together as she walked toward the back room.

“Here you go.” She stacked the three boxes of cookies, each holding three dozen, on the round dining table near the front door. “Thanks again.”

“I hope you figured out the flavor issue this time. Last batch was not up to par like your usual cookies,” Carl said as he struggled to balance the boxes in his arms.

Alexis didn’t reply. She stood there silently, biting down on her lips to cage the words you aren’t supposed to say to your loyal customers. Remember, Alexis, the customer is always right. Just nod and try to smile. Her breath began to pick up as heat rushed to her face. She gripped the wooden rolling pin tightly, willing herself to remain calm.

“Come make yourself useful and open this door for me,” Carl said with his back toward Alexis.

Her forced smile contorted into a vicious sneer as she walked toward him, her arm slowly rising over her head with every step. As Carl began to turn, Alexis swung the rolling pin against his temple. Her sneer slipped back into a smile as he fell, his head hitting the corner of the doorframe on the way down. A metallic tang hit the air as a slow crimson tide pooled around his head.

Alexis stood there for a few seconds, admiring the view, before she began choking as smoke filled the house.

“Fuck! I forgot all about the cookies. Fucking Carl!”

She ran to the oven and pulled the tray out. Instead of setting it down, she skipped back to Carl. She used her foot to roll him onto his back.

“Look what you made me do, Carl!” she said, holding the tray of cookies over his head.

Alexis threw the hot cookies onto his unresponsive face, brought the steaming baking sheet above her head, and slammed it down again and again. She then set the tray onto his face, braced one hand against the door for balance, and like a little girl, hopped onto it, jumping up and down as if it were a trampoline.

“Look at me, I’m jumping! I’m jumping! Daddy look at me I’m jumping!” she shouted. “How do the cookies taste now Carl?”

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she jumped off Carl, quickly reaching for it. A text from Dave.

Sorry I’m late but I’m ten minutes away.

“FUCK!” She kicked Carl’s body in frustration.

She reached down, grabbed his legs, and dragged him across the living room into the bathroom, leaving a streak of blood on the floor. Knowing she didn’t have time to properly clean it, she grabbed a bag of flour and poured it over the blood. As it absorbed, it turned into a pale red, clay-like substance. She threw more flour on top.

Alexis picked up the cookies and threw them into the cookie room. She cleaned up just enough of the mess and went back to the work stations, putting another batch of cookies in the oven. Every minute counts, she thought to herself.

A few minutes later, Dave arrived and she let him in.

“Woah, what happened here?” Dave stepped over the flour mess on the floor.

“Oh nothing, just a baking accident. Clumsy me. A whole bowl of red icing slipped out of my hands. I didn’t have a chance to clean it up. It literally just happened.” She handed him the first couple of boxes of his order.

“This is not what I ordered. These look like absolute garbage,” Dave said, setting the boxes on the table as he took a seat.

“Excuse me?” Alexis’s heart began to pick up its pace again, her wrist throbbing. She leaned against the counter, her eyes fixated on the kitchen knives.

“I can’t take these. They are all wrong. I said I wanted the numbers navy blue. These are royal blue. I want my money back.” He held out his hand, waiting for cash even though he paid on her website.

“Umm..Ok..I’ll have to process the refund on the website. I don’t have cash on me,” she said as she dug her nail into her leg until the skin tore and began to bleed.

“Well this is a shame. Alexis, you need to get your act together. If you keep this up you’ll probably go out of business.” Dave stood up and headed for the front door.
“I know I won’t be retur—”

“AHHHHH!” Alexis ran and drove a kitchen knife into his back seconds before he reached the door. Dave fell forward, his head slamming against the doorknob.

Alexis rushed forward and yanked the knife out. She brought it up to see her reflection. A grimace smile looked back at her, flecked with blood. Then she brought it down into Dave’s back.

“They…”
She raised the knife and drove it down again.

“Were navy blue…”
Down again.

“Fuckin asshole!”
Down again. And again. And again.

After a minute, she left the knife lodged in his back and knelt over him, her breath ragged.

Alexis jumped up as she had a light bulb moment. She skipped to the peninsula and grabbed the stainless steel cookie cutters.

She pulled the knife out of him and dragged it through his shirt, splitting it open. She laid the assorted star-shaped cookie cutters along his back as if she were about to cut dough. She lifted her foot and drove it down onto the cutters again and again until they were pressed deep into his skin. Blood pooled around each shape like icing bleeding past the edges.

“Look, Daddy. I turned my passion into art just like you showed me. Are you proud of me now?” she called out.

Alexis plopped down onto the floor and leaned against Dave’s body. Her blood-slick hands propped up her elbows as she rested her chin in them, smearing it across her cheek as she drifted off into a micro nap.

She spent the next couple hours thoroughly cleaning herself, the house, then got right back to baking.

The back door opened around midnight, and her dog went running toward it, tail wagging. Her husband walked in and looked just as tired, if not more than Alexis. She walked toward him with a smile.

“Hi honey,” he said as he put his bag down and pet Lucy.

“Yay. You’re home.” Alexis went onto her tiptoes to kiss him. “Today was insane.”

“Sorry. If it makes you feel better, I had a crazy day too.” He kissed her forehead.

“I’ll help you with whatever you need after I go pee. You need to get some sleep tonight,” he said as he walked past her in a hurry.

“Umm… honey?” he called from the bathroom.

“Right… About that… I had a little slip today.” She hesitated. “But it’s their fault! They were both entitled dicks!”

“I’ll go get the shovel. But honey… we’re running out of room in the garden.”

The Dark Petal

A Little Slip