One of Those Days -- flash fiction

image from clipartfest

"Xcell Enegy, how may I direct your call?"

"Hello, this is Angela Spivey. I live at ..."

"Momma."

"Not now, Honey. I live ..."

"Momma?" The child climbed onto a stool at his mother's left elbow.

"Just a minute, Baby." She turned her back on the child. "I live at fourteen oh four ...."

"Momma," the child tapped his mothers arm.

"Fourteen oh four South ..."

"Please hold."

"No, wait .... My electricity ...."

The child tapped her arm again. "Momma." Tap, tap. "Momma..."

"Your call is very important to us." Dissonant video game music filled the phone.

Tap, tap. "Momma."

"If you are calling to report ..."

Pinch. "MOMMA."

She flinched and glared at the child.

"...an outage, you may contact us online at xcel dot ..."

Apparently afraid to repeat the pinching, the child tapped her arm. "Momma." Tap, tap, tap.

She slammed the receiver down and turned on the child.

"WHAT?"

Shocked into silence, the child couldn't remember what he wanted.

All the mother wanted was to change her name to anything other than "Momma" and have the electricity come back on.

#atozchallenge