Letter Of The Day - Flash Fiction
- Greg Luti
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
A flash fiction story that captures a quiet domestic moment filled with quiet contrast. In “Letter Of The Day,” Greg Luti places a toddler’s simple play against the backdrop of adult conversations about war, celebrities, and the weight of the wider world.
A child of no more than two years old and a grandma sit in the living room, getting ready for the afternoon they are going to spend together. On the floor, the child is playing with his toy cars, as the grandma is watching the news.
The TV is discussing the latest tragedies of the world. They had just finished covering a house fire in the next town and had moved on to the war, and how the worst part is not the deaths.
The uncle, a spitting image of the nephew at that age, walked into the room, hearing his buddy had arrived.
“Is that Marky Mark?” The uncle went up to the child who was on the floor playing with his toys. The child smiled and greeted his uncle, who patted the child on the head. “Are you going to make a rap song and somehow have an acting career longer than most can hold a job?” The uncle addressed his mom. “I don’t know how that guy had such a long career. I did like him in that football movie he was in.” He went back to talking to his nephew. “Remember Marky Mark, playing football causes CTE, which is not good. We don’t want CTE, because that means Marky Mark’s brain is hurt. We gotta keep that brain of yours healthy, buddy.” The child continued to play with his cars, attempting to push them back and forth.
The grandma’s eyes were fixated on the segment about the latest war efforts of their country. Recently, it had been revealed that both sides were being armed by their own country. Many now suspect the country never wanted the war to end.
“What happened? Another attack?” The uncle asked.
“No. Apparently we are trying to fight both sides. We are giving weapons to both our enemies and our allies.”
“Who are our enemies again?”
“I don’t even know.” She commented.
“What are you guys doing today?”
“Once Dad gets home, we are going for a walk with him. Then we are going to get some lunch.” The grandma said.
“Oh, that is nice.” The uncle went to sit down, as though he had just run a mile.
The reporter on the TV asked, “This has to be the most pressing topic of our time. A topic all will be wondering about.”
The uncle sat on the couch half-paying attention to the TV. He wore his T-shirt, one he had worn for the past three days, and his boxers, which were fresh. His nephew was on the ground by the TV, playing with his cars. The child had yet to figure out direction and did not know if he pulled the car back, the car would then release to go forward. The grandma sat on the other end of the couch watching the screen. She was ready to try out her new walking shoes when they went for a walk today.
The uncle sarcastically responded to the reporter on the TV, as though she was talking to him. “Oh really, I thought it was the growth of oligarchical influence threatening to overtake democratic principles we all hold so dear to our hearts, leaving us in a country we don’t recognize, until we all wake up one day and see that there are two laws: those for the rich and those for everybody else.” He got up to play with the child. “There is a third law for criminals, but we don’t talk about that one, buddy. It is bad to steal.” The child in the room continued to play with his toys, unaware of his uncle’s rant. “What do you think, buddy?” He asked his nephew. “Do you think we are becoming an oligarchy, or are we isolating ourselves by not committing to a side in the war?” The child finally pushed the toy across the room. When it flew across the floor, he looked at his uncle, amazed at what he just discovered. “I agree. It is probably both.”
The grandma in the room sensed the inappropriate nature of the coverage. “I am going to change the channel.” She took a moment to properly move the remote so that it was pointing directly at the TV and then switched the viewing to a children’s show.
“Yeah, it is probably best you do. He doesn’t need to see this.”
The characters on the TV screen were from a show the uncle grew up watching as a kid and were all singing a song for the letter of the day, a theme on the show.
The child started bopping his head up and down to the song, as the uncle sang, “Letter of the day. Letter of the day. Do you know the letter of the day?” He stopped singing as the child’s face was fixed on the screen. “The letter of the day is f, by the way.” The uncle addressed the grandma, “Yeah, this is better for him.”
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