A Perishable Date

“Don’t go out with him!” A woman had appeared, suddenly, right next to the check-out counter.

Odin Halvorson
1 min readDec 23, 2022

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By Edvard Munch — The Athenaeum: pic, Public Domain

Edward smiled at the pretty store clerk, Mary, like he did every week, and felt a little rush of excitement. He’d taken his time, worked up the courage to make the moves. She clearly liked him. It was almost time.

“Hey… want to have dinner sometime?”

Mary blushed. They made plans. Edward left the store.

“Don’t go out with him!” A woman had appeared, suddenly, right next to the check-out counter.

Mary stared, wide-eyed, at the woman. “Why not?”

“He killed me!” the woman said, her voice a rasp that faded like wind.

Mary turned her head to one side. “Ah!” She squinted. “You’re a ghost.” She glanced after Edward, and grinned. Her canines were long. “I think our first date’s going to really suck.”

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Odin Halvorson

A futurist/socialist/fantasist writer, editor, and scholar. MFA/MLIS. Free access to my articles at OdinHalvorson.substack.com | More over at OdinHalvorson.com.