An Ordinary Breakfast

by Louella Lester


When she tips the container and pours the blueberries over the bowl of oatmeal a lone berry escapes. Scoots to the edge of the counter. Teeters there for less than a second. Dives to the floor. Rolls away towards the refrigerator, at least she assumes it does, because she’s wearing her reading glasses, not her progressive bifocals or even the single vision ones she uses to watch television, and things are a bit of a blur. She whips off the reading glasses and squints. Nothing. Bends for a closer look. Nothing. Tries swiping her hand under the fridge, but her fingers won’t fit. Says, “Fuck!” twice. Stalks to her desk, yanks open a drawer and pulls out a ruler. While there she exchanges her reading glasses for her bifocals. On her way back Violet steps on something cold and squishy, nowhere near the fridge.


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Louella Lester is a writer/photographer in Winnipeg, Canada, author of Glass Bricks (At Bay Press), a contributing editor at New Flash Fiction Review, and has a story included in Best Microfiction 2024. Her writing appears in a variety of journals/anthologies, including most recently: Roi Faineant, 50-Word Story, the Dribble Drabble Review, MacQueen’s Quinterly, Gooseberry Pie, Paragraph Planet, Hooghly Review, Bright Flash, Cult. Magazine, and SoFloPoJo.