Daisy by Dylan Manning
Grandma dropped the lizard down the garbage disposal.
“I don’t like animals.”
Her excuse muffles the
Crunch crunch rattle crunch
Of the lizard
Pulled apart
With the orange peel and the meatloaf and the broccoli and the half-eaten weight watchers Jello
Leftovers.
The lizard was a left-over.
Over from the swamp.
Pre-condo
Pre-golf course
Pre-garbage disposal.
Crunchchrunch rattlecrunch
“I just don’t like animals.”
Time skips a beat; I take note not to introduce her to my fish.
“Nope, never liked animals.”
She bends to pet the dog,
Daisy.
Daisy the dog.
Maybe Daisy doesn’t count as an animal.
“daisy” belongs to the flora family after all, Bellis perennis
The lizard was not so fortunately mislabeled.
Dylan is a high school senior at Green Meadow Waldorf School and will be entering Kenyon College in the fall as a member of the class of 2021. She writes sketch comedy, short stories (fiction and non-fiction), poetry, and is currently editing the manuscript of his first novel. She has had work published in The Voices Project, the Paramount Literary Magazine, and has won a silver key from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. She is currently an editor at her high school literary magazine, The Burning Bush, and is interning at River River Writers Circle.
