To Do List: Buy Sharpies

by Beth Sherman

Label medications by the day of the week. Label appliances in big block letters: STOVE, DISHWASHER, FRIDGE. Label the cat’s collar so when it darts out the door, a kind stranger will return it. Label the door. Label your wrist: name, address, daughter’s cell. Label the toilet. Label your past happy – who’s to say otherwise? Label your memories, fragile as soap bubbles, before they drift away and pop. Label your children: the good one, the pretty one. Label the stranger’s face confused when he appears at last holding a struggling animal that might, in the right forgiving light, be yours.

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Beth Sherman’s writing has been published in over 150 literary journals and appears in Best Microfiction 2024 and Best Small Fictions 2025. She’s also a multiple Pushcart and Best of the Net nominee. She can be reached on X, Bluesky, or Instagram @bsherm36

 

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