Sticky Gooey Fly Paper

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In honor of the last day of summer...


They sat there all day, the six of them in their Adirondack chairs. It was a pleasant August day with a warm breeze. Somehow they gravitated to each other even though they were strangers for the most part just a few weeks earlier. Unlike gravity, which works even though we don't fully understand it, what drew these 6 women together was their love of talking, of the gossip variety. So there they were, drinks at their side, settling into easy conversation that slowly turned more and more exciting as the hours ticked by.
They sat there licking up every single word as if it were the sweetest stickiest honey.
Did you hear about this scandal?
I know..I couldnt believe when I heard..
I know her sister..
crazy
and what about so and so..I hear he lost 5 million dollars in the past few months..
I know..my husband told me...
They could barely afford a party planner for their Bar Mitzvah...
blah blah blah
On and on and on..until there was almost no one left to talk about.

The sun was starting to descend beneath the top of the trees and a cool breeze was beginning to envelope them.
Suddenly Leah, with great effort, pulled herself up out of her chair and started heading to her bungalow with a hurried "talk to you later".

One of the 5 remaining whispered, "my my what has she been eating?", as their eyes followed her back to the bungalow.
They all burst out laughing at the same time.
You heard her husband declared bankruptcy last week?...added another
Yea...their marriage was never very good.
I know..and you know..he's on meds.
I heard he suffers from severe depression.
Really? I didn't know that..

The words hung in the air like a drip of honey on a spider's web.

An eerie silence filled the void suddenly created by the silence.
They looked at one another nervously.
No one dared moved.
Terrified of the sticky gooey paper that they had spun around themselves.

And they sat there immobile for the rest of the day and night..and the next day.
Until someone finally found them 5 days later, barely alive.




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