Broke

Bills. They stacked up like a child's art project on the kitchentable, each stamped red with the word "overdue." The house wascrumbling down, the wallpaper peeling off every panel. The wallstrembled as the couple screamed at each other. Blame flew likehousehold objects; lamps, chairs, and plates.

They stormed off in a huff to the same bedroom, facing away from eachother, their faces too hot and hearts beating too hard to sleep.

So they stayed awake, until the sunlight streaked in through thebroken blinds and the couple was ready to start the routine overagain.

From Guest Contributor Artie Kuyper

The Last Morning Before The Lamps Took Over

It was a Saturday morning when it happened. The flea market regulars arrived just after daybreak and found the entire lot filled with lamps. They came in all shapes and sizes, some barely recognizable as lamps at all.

The vendors debated where they might have come from. Perhaps they were delivered to the wrong address. Maybe a shipment had been stolen by the Stevedore's Union, who'd decided these lamps couldn't be unloaded.

That was when the invasion began. It seems normal now, but in the beginning, no one could have dreamed of an alien race that looked like desk lamps.

This story was written in response to this photo prompt.