Ficlet 8

Probably Not

He hated the texture of it. He always did. He, however, never had the courage to tell her that it made him want to puke. He hadn't had the courage to tell her for months. She loved making him oatmeal. She would get up early in the morning while he was still asleep and cook it for them over the stovetop. She said she wanted him to wake up to the smell of it, but she never knew that the smell made him gag in bed. Every morning he would pull the sheets over his nose and breath through his mouth to escape the smell he hated so much.

Luckily, the smell didn't last long because she would quickly brew the coffee after the oatmeal started to cook. It made her happy though, and it made him happy to see her happy. It especially made him happy to see her cooking the oatmeal in his denim shirt with her ruffled hair first thing in the morning.

He was glad that their new dog liked oatmeal. Every moment Jane got up, looked away, or went to shower in the morning he would put a large dollop on the floor for the tiny dog to lick up. He felt that the dog saved his life many mornings when he just couldn't stomach another bite. Even when the dog licked up the oatmeal it would make him a little queasy. He never understood how a living thing could ever eat something so slimy. Jane told him about the health benefits, but why did healthy things always taste so gross? He tried adding nuts, fruit, chocolate, or coconut to the morning mixture. However, nothing ever seemed to help. It still tasted slimy and it still smelt gross.

This morning was especially hard. He didn't know why, but it tasted especially worse today. Jane hadn't even looked away, taken a shower, or even get up to get anything. She had just been smiling at him for the past ten minutes since she put the bowl of torture down next to him. The dog hadn't even got up to sit next to him to be fed. He could see the dog in the corner of his eye staring at him from the other room. It seemed that the dog's small beady eyes were telling him, "Yeah, good luck with this one." He stared down at the oatmeal as he slowly scooped up a spoonful of it onto his spoon. He looked down at the oatmeal and back at his smiling wife. He had been planning on telling her this morning that he just couldn't eat another bowl of the stuff.

Kurt took a deep breath before he spoke, "Jane -" She interrupted him before he could finish.

"I decided I would put molasses in it today. It is a good source of iron. Do you like it?" Jane asked. Her smile widened as she looked up from the table. Jane took a huge bite of the oatmeal in front of him. Kurt just looked at her. Her face beamed with pride. It made her so happy to cook for him.

Kurt opened his mouth and inserted a gigantic bite of oatmeal into his mouth. He swallowed the clump as he tried to not gag as it went down his throat. "It's great. I love it," Kurt lied.

Perhaps he would tell her tomorrow.

Probably not.