Carla tossed the last pillow case onto the bonfire she had built out in her field. She watched the flames hungrily lick most of her linens, her sofa, mattress and recently-purchased luggage.
“I can’t believe I have to do this,” she mumbled to her best friend beside her.
Ellie backed a few feet away from the roaring fire as it began to grow and burn several degrees hotter.
“Have you heard back from the exterminator yet?”
“No. I think they’re blowing me off,” Carla said and also moved back. She could feel the heat warming the bridge of her nose.
“I don’t think they’re blowing you off,” Ellie responded, “I just think they’re overwhelmed with this right now. I mean, who knew bed bugs would become a nation-wide epidemic? It’s crazy.”
The fire popped and sparks flew several feet into the air. The furniture began melting before their eyes.
“All I know is, I’m glad I caught it before it got out of control. I saw one on my sofa and that was all it took for me to start … this.” She gestured to the fire with a helpless flip of her hand.
Carla’s cell phone rang.
“Hello?” Carla covered the mouth piece. “It’s them.”
She listened a few minutes then went deathly pale. She hung up and collapsed onto the ground.
“Well??”
“That “bug” I sent in? Yeah. It wasn’t a bug, it was a fuzz ball.”
Ellie gasped in horror.
Both women silently watched Carla’s belongings burn.
Fiction under 250 words.
Write From Karen 