One morning the husband got up so cheerful and said to the wife, “I’ll drive the girls to your sister’s today so you can get to school early and do your work.” Now, this struck the wife as odd for two reasons—first because the husband was never cheerful and second because it was not like him to offer to do anything that seemed like work, such as driving the little girls to her sister’s who was a babysitter for a living. She wanted to accept his offer but something inside her was dragging its feet. So, quickly she thought, and said, “No, I have a special order in at the bookstore. I’ll take the girls and pick it up on the way.” “Oh,” said the husband and walked away looking decidedly less cheerful.
The wife gathered up her books and keys and girls and was about to walk out the door when the husband reappeared. He had in his hand a stack of paper and a bag of coffee. “I promised to take her these,” he said. “She wants to write a resume and she is out of coffee.” The wife looked at the husband’s face then she tucked the paper and coffee under her arm and left.
By the time she drew near to her sister’s, the thing that dragged its feet had begun to rattle its chains and moan. She pulled into the apartment parking lot from the side that couldn’t be seen from her sister’s door. The little girls ran on ahead while she gathered up the paper and coffee. When she got to the door her little girls were already inside. The sister was sitting on the couch dressed in such a way and sitting in such a way, expecting the husband to come through the door. “He sent you these,” the wife said when she was inside, handing the sister the coffee and paper, over the din of the thing inside that wailed and thrashed and groaned. “Oh, how sweet,” said the sister as she turned and smiled in such a way that was the Devil’s own.