SECOND
By Jen Steffen

She stared at the family portrait, lightly touching the face of her older sister. A lump sat in her throat as she thought of them.

Shaking, she sighed. Second born, second to graduate, second to get her fucking Ph.D. How could she ever forgive her sister for doing it all first? First to get her driver’s license, first to get married, first to have perfect fucking children. Her sister could be the first to go fuck herself.

Drawing in a shaking breath, she threw the picture across the room with a scream. This time she would be first. She’d be the first to die. Sliding farther down in the tub, she watched as the swirls of red flowered and danced around her, and she closed her eyes for the last time.
Jen has been writing since childhood. She is the first born of three, all siblings are still alive. This was posted on her writing site were it received several good comments. She is currently working on a novel and lives with her husband and two children.

4 comments:

Christopher Pimental said...

You had me at "Her sister could be the first to go fuck herself." (Swooning...)

Wanda said...

Tight, emotionally charged scene. Damn sibling rivalry anyway!

Jimmy Callaway said...

Just over a hundred words, but a complete story. Hats off.

Jen Steffen said...

Above comment: I don't understand Chinese? Japanese? I don't even know what language that is, that's how bad I am with Asian languages. I'm dead curious as to what you said though, so if there's a way to get that in English, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.