After he invites her to escape beery ’90s karaoke, they eat seedless watermelon beside a humming dishwasher. Their mouths flood with someone else’s fruit. They wash their fingers in silent mode—smiling, blinking. Whose kitchen is this, again? One of them wonders. The other is already pretending. Ours. Ours. Ours.

Adele Gallogly lives and writes in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in a number of places, including the 2025 Bridport Prize Anthology, Flash the Court, NUNUM, and Gastropoda. Find her on IG/BlueSky: @AdeleGallogly.