The Gift

Gabriel was coming home from school, when he saw a man leaving the doorsteps of his house—a slightly overweight, middle-aged man dressed in a blue flannel suit and carrying a briefcase. He felt a stake sinking slowly into his chest, as he always did when this happened. Gabriel saw the satisfied smirk on the man’s face and bile rose to his throat.

After the man was out of sight, Gabriel rushed inside and found his mother taking a bubble bath. The bathroom door was half open. She always let it open for him.

Gabriel gazed down at her. She had a dreamy look on her face. When she saw him, though, she seemed startled, scared even.

A shadow of a smile curved his lip, and she relaxed. "Hi, sweetie," she said softly, slowly caressing her arms between the bubbles.

Gabriel remained silent, his cold eyes on her cleavage.

"I got a present today from one of my friends. Why don't you go to your room and take a look? If you want, you can have them," she said.

He went to his room and found two Spaniel puppies on his bed. For a moment he looked pleased and sat next to them. The puppies stared at him with their all-eye faces and opened their mouths, letting undeveloped barks come out. He scratched one of them on the head and felt himself growing stronger, his blood hotter, his hands getting bigger and bigger. His eyes seemed to bulge out, as he lifted one of the puppies and twisted its neck and then did the same with the other. It wasn't difficult at all. The bones of five-week old puppies are very frail and can be broken easily.

Then he picked them up and put them lovingly on his mother's bed.