Hitchcock Presents a Salve by Yash Seyedbagheri

Big sister Nancy and I love Alfred Hitchcock Presents. We retreat into black-and-white and each other.

Suppressed stupidity unfurls onscreen. Daughters kill controlling fathers. Sons turn in their fathers for financial gain. Frustration expresses itself. People seize power.

Mother and Dad exchange clipped words over starched smiles. Kitchen’s not clean. Dad has a lot of “late night” engagements. They blame each other for our faults. Nancy’s too hot-tempered, Nick’s a dreamer.

They never break up.

We wish they’d have affairs with younger people. Scam each other. Grab. Scream.

Nancy and I laugh, thinking of it. Turn back to Hitchcock.

Violent relief.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University's MFA program in fiction.  A native of Boise, Idaho, his work is forthcoming or has been published in journals such as Unstamatic, Door Is A Jar Magazine, Maudlin House, and Ariel Chart. Yash lives in Garden Valley, Idaho.