Power Shift

The knock at the front door kickstarted Phillip’s heart like an old Honda, and his face flushed hot. He didn’t think he still had it in him.

“Come in, honey!” Phillip called

His voice quivered with excitement. This was the big night.

The front door creaked open, and Phillip could hear Nancy’s soft footsteps on the living room carpet.

“Phil?” she called out, her voice uncertain.

Phillip smiled. He had thought she might be on to him. The way she had been studying his face lately. The questions she was asking.

He figured she must have suspected what he had in mind. But that little catch in her voice told him she was unsure.

“In here,” Phillip called out. “I have a surprise for you!”

His mouth tasted like an old tin can. Nerves. He laughed at himself again.

“It’s alright, man,” he told the empty room. “You’re fine. It’s not every day you ask a girl to spend eternity with you, after all.”

“Who are you talking to, Phillip?” Nancy was just outside the bedroom door.

“No one, Nance. Just you.”

The door inched inward, and Nancy’s curvy shadow unfolded across the carpet.

Phillip dug his fingernails into the hard cherry boards at his sides. His teeth tingled, and sweat rolled off his body into the silk lining.

Nancy stepped into the room, arms out in front of her like she was feeling her way.

Phillip grinned, his canines growing long over his lower lip.

Nancy took another step closer and stood in front of him. He could see her hands. His smile slid away.

In one, Nancy held a cross. In the other, a sharp wooden stake.

Phillip froze in his coffin and stared at his beloved. She had been on to him all along.