CAN WE FIX HER? YES WE CAN!

My hand rested on the brass doorknob so long that the metal lost its cool touch.

Through the thin wooden door, I could hear a familiar faint panting.

“Come on, June! We fixed her!” Scoot said, in the same upbeat tone. “Don’t leave her out in the cold!”

My heartbeat sounded like a drum. Despite my best efforts my chest vibrated like an earthquake. This is a bad idea June…

I opened the door.

“G-Griffith–” I stumbled back as Griffith jumped on me with his wet, furry paws.

Despite my shock, I let out a gentle laugh as he slobbered all over my face. “Hey, easy boy, easy.”

“Did we fix her, YES WE DID!” Bob called from the TV.

I gently pushed Griffith off. He felt so much heavier than I remembered.

I stood back up. With how long Griffith had been missing he had to just be starving!

The dog looked up.

A haunting chill went up my spine. “Griffith?”

It stared up at me with its wide open eyes.

Human eyes instead of dog eyes.

Pearly white human teeth for jaws.

No sharp canines, no long meat ripping knives for teeth.

“Did you doubt us, June?” Bob asked, followed by a roaring round of audience laughter. “The Can-Do Crew never fails to fix anything!”

“N-no but… Let me feed you.”

I quickly turned toward the kitchen.

The dog food had been shoved on the top shelf for awhile now.

Kibble didn’t expire.

The dog trodded over as I poured the food into its bowl. I had refused to move it despite Phil’s insistence that we needed to move on.

“Deep breaths June.” I glanced down. It sniffed the food with jerky, nearly human movements.

“Thank you, mommy!”

I froze. “Lily?”

Lily? Griffith? Lillith began to devour the food with its pearly white teeth. And that tongue, that wasn’t the tongue of a dog.

“What did you do to my daughter?!” I grasped the closest object I could find–a glass vase with flowers long wilted–and tossed it toward the TV.

The glass shattered harmlessly against the screen.

Bob the Builder smiled. “Didn’t you see June? We fixed her!”

“Yeah!” A cheer came out from the team.

“What do you mean, fixed her?” I asked.

Scoop rolled forward, pointing his bucket toward Lillith. “Her old parts were broken, June. When fixing things, sometimes you need spare parts to get the job done.”

“Spare parts?” Before I could finish, a horrid, putrid sound erupted from around my knees.

Lilith gagged, vomiting out piles of brown mush laced with stomach acid. It sizzled on the floor.

“W-whats wrong!” I fell to my knees. “Lily, talk to me!”

“It tastes bad, mommy. My stomach hurts!”

“I’ll get you some better food!” I dashed to the fridge.

A few empty bottles rattled. I scanned the mostly empty cold box. “Perfect.”

I grabbed a fresh block of cheese and laid it in her bowl, only for Lillith to vomit it up seconds later.

“That’s gross, mommy!”

“It’s ok, sweetie.” I ran back to the fridge.

Yet every bit of food resulted in the same thing.

“What can you eat, sweetie?” I tried my best to put on a smile.

Lily was smart.

Lily saw through it.

“Mommy, I’m so h-hungry…”

“Please, Lily, what do I do…” I helplessly shot around the kitchen. Something edible, something, anything.

“Gee, June, you won't find anything there!” Bob said with a smile.

“Where then? Where!”

“Oh June,” he chuckled like we were joking over lunch. “Sometimes, when fixing certain machines, they need different fuel after the fix. Obviously normal human food won’t work for her.”

“The dog food didn’t work either!”

Dizzy rolled over, “She’s not a dog either, duhhh. If I put a piece of wood onto a boat that doesn’t make it a log cabin.”

“Then what does she need? I–”

BANG

BANG

BANG

A heavy set fist pounded on the door. I could feel the flimsy house rattle with each knock.

I glanced at the clock.

Eight in the morning. Has it really been that long?

“C-coming!” My voice rattled out. I glanced toward Lillith. What do I do… Come on June, think…

“Are you going to answer, June?” Scoop asked.

“Of course!" I snapped back. The kitchen was just out of view from the front door. I’d have to make it work.

I walked toward the door as the banging ceased. “Can I help you?”

“June…” An extraordinarily familiar voice answered. “It’s me.”

“Phil?” I tossed open the door.

He stood there in a disheveled yellow polo. “Can I come in?”

“Y-yes of course."

He took a few steps in and tapped his shoes on the rug.

“I needed to cool my head a bit. I went too far, June, I need to apologize for that.”

“Thank you, Phil.” I sighed as he walked into the living room, ignoring Bob and the crew as they watched him unblinkingly.

“Huh?” Phil raised an eyebrow. “When did the kitchen become such a mess?”

“Just a bit ago,” I said. For some reason, Phil didn’t care to comment on the acidic vomit.

“I see…” he sighed, taking a few steps toward his office. “At least it’s been eventful around here for sure...”

“Well, it’s not been long since you left, honey…”

“That’s true. I see you ravaged the kitchen while I was gone.”

“Well with Li–Griffith back I wanted to make sure he had something to eat!” I hastily walked over to the kitchen and started closing some of the wide open cabinets.

As I closed the last of the cabinets, he disappeared back into the office.

He didn't appear to have listened to a word I said.

“What you said, honey… Well… while you were gone, I had some time to think.”

“That’s good,” his voice came from the office, covered by the sound of ruffled papers.

“Mommy?” Lilith tugged on my leg. “Daddy is going to leave again.”

I ignored her, peering into the office. “Phil… what are you doing?”

“Just organizing a few things.” He said, his voice again covered by the clattering coming from the office.

Inside, the man was frantically stuffing papers into a familiar leather bag–the one he exclusively used for traveling.

“Phil… You’re not leaving again… Please tell me you’re not leaving again!”

“Of course I am! I can’t stand one more minute of you whining about Lily! Lily this, Lily that, she’s dead June, and I’m not going to waste my life remembering a past I can’t change. Don’t expect to see me again.”

“Honey please…” I fell to my knees.

“First the dog, then Lily! He always meant more to you than I ever did.”

“Daddy smells yummy…” I glanced toward Lillith.

“W-what do you mean?”

“I’m hungry…” She stared at Phil, those oh so human teeth of hers starting to salivate.

“You heard her, June!” Bob chucked from the tv. “Dogs and humans both gotta eat!”

“Eat?” I said in a hushed tone. “Eat Phil?”

Scoop rolled into frame. “Gee I don’t see anyone else.”

Bob interrupted him. “You better make that decision soon! Phil’s leaving, and I don’t think he plans on coming back.”

I gazed down at Lillith.

Five seconds passed.

“Hey Phil? Can I ask you one last thing?”

“What?” he growled.

“There's some stuff in the kitchen, you remember all your old sound equipment. I can’t lift that myself…”

It was a piss poor excuse.

He sighed. “Whatever. Don’t ask me anything else.”

“Thank you,” a tear fell down my cheek. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”

Phil silently walked past me.

I followed close behind, with Lillith at my heels.

“Bob, are you sure this will work?”

“Absolutely! It’s a Can-Do Crew guarantee.”

I steadied my breath and reached into the closest drawer.

An unfamiliar hammer sat on top of the discarded mail. It was almost toy-like with its plasticy sheen.

Yet its weight and feel made it clear the hammer was real.

“God, I don’t remember buying half this shit…” I could hear Phil mumble from behind the mountain of electrical junk piled up in the corner.

My heart started to ramp up like an engine.

My blood roared.

My eyes widened.

I could nearly smell it, that grilled, charcoal tainted smell that had Lillith licking her lips.

“June, where do you want me to put this junk? I have room in my car…” His voice trailed off as his head reappeared. “June? Are you ok?”

“I’ve never felt better honey!” I said. Lilith smiled at my feet, an unmistakable human smile.

He shrugged his shoulders and turned around.

Big mistake.

With every muscle in my body, I swung the sharp end of my hammer, Bob’s hammer, toward his skull.

CRACK

He collapsed onto the ground.

Red ooze poured from his skull, bits of a squishy punk visible through the broken bone.

“Good job June! Go fuel up, Lily. I know you’re hungry.”

“Thank you, mommy!” 

Her tail wagged.

She went up to Phil’s corpse, licking the blood that poured from his skull like it was ice cream.

Next came the insides.

She slammed her teeth into his head, ripping the bone out to get the delicious insides. “Yummy!”

I turned to Bob, my breath still rapid. “W-what did I do Bob?”

“The right thing, June,” he chuckled. “Though Phil won't last forever! Fuel drains, and when her tank reaches E you’ll have to refill!”

I glanced back. Where Phil’s head had been moments ago now sat a mess of oozing blood and guts.

Lillith happily chomped down on the cheekbone, wagging her tail as she held bits of his skull between her teeth.

“But how…”

“No one will miss them, June! Who do you care about more, strangers or your only daughter?”

“That’s not even a question!” I gently wrapped my arms around her fur, ignoring the smell of rot and decay soaking into the floorboards. “What mom wouldn’t do anything to protect her daughter?”