A Perfect Match by V. S. Stark

Welcome to the October 2020 Storytime Blog Hop!

This October, I am happy to present a darkly humorous short story by V. S. Stark, A Perfect Match. Perfect for Halloween in the time of COVID, too! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, as well as the other stories featured during this month’s blog hop! I even have one of my own this time!

A Perfect Match

“I’d been worried that Jerry would have nothing to do when he retired” Shelly said. “but he’s gotten so into gardening and cooking, I just can’t believe it.” The other women nodded politely, utterly bored by now with stories about Jerry’s latest creation. Shelly smiled to herself. The shelter-in-place order was starting at midnight. She was going to look after her “invalid” sister for the duration, as domestic help was not considered essential. The freezer here at home was packed with lovely meals, all garnished with a little bit of the “herbs” from the garden snipped over the top. Jerry never cooked or gardened, just watched tv and drank beer. She would be at her sister’s when he died. With the expected death toll, nobody would look too closely at a heart attack in an overweight, middle-aged man. All of her friends would confirm that he did the cooking since he retired.

Jerry settled back into his recliner. He’d done a good job on her capsules. You couldn’t tell that he’d tampered with them. She’d die at Alice’s house, serve her conniving snake of a sister right. All of his buddies would commiserate with him, given how often he’d told them about begging her not to buy supplements on the internet. Besides, all eyes were on the Covid numbers right now.

“Goodbye, darling!” they called to each other as Shelly drove away.