Paltbröd
By Jason Kurylo
CW: mild gore, suggested cannibalism
“You want gluten-free?”
She sprinkles rice flour over a cutting board etched FOR MY LOVING WIFE.
“I’ll give you gluten-free.”
She hates that bloody cutting board.
“Siri, shuffle Cooking Playlist.”
She despises Tammy Wynette, but Stand By Your Man’s his favourite. Her fists slam into the dough on each and every beat. She grunts and squints, floury clouds billowing under bright white pot lights he’d insisted upon.
“Ugh. It’s like a fucking interrogation room in here.”
The oven, last year’s anniversary present, pronounces its readiness. Her eye falls on the Wusthof chef’s knife with the cocobolo hilt he’d commissioned for her 40th birthday. She softens.
“You. You were worth every Euro.”
PALTBRÖD, the recipe begins. ENSURE THE PIG’S BLOOD IS ROOM TEMPERATURE. She needn’t have looked. This Swedish delicacy has been on her bucket list for years. She knows every last word by heart.
“Oh, my pig’s warm, all right.”
She thinks of Dublin, where he showered her in artisanal glassware and baking classes. She caresses one of the hand-fired measuring cups that survived the flight home, its cool, mitred edge oddly satisfying against her fingertips. She loses herself in an old soft country chestnut that they actually agree upon.
♫♪ Her hum is atonal, but pleasant. ♪♬
A sudden scrabble against the lacquered floor interrupts her reverie. She steps closer to her husband—he struggles against turkey twine that binds him to a bespoke kitchen chair. The stink of fear and urine is overwhelming, but she speaks with disquieting calm.
“Don’t. Move.”
She pulls taut a stretch of medical tubing.
“Hopefully this batch turns out better.”
She slowly opens his femoral artery, and collects another cup of blood. He gurgles.
“Then we’ll move on to the main course.”
She waves at his tongue, marinating on the custom marble countertop.
Jason Kurylo is a teacher and writer from Vancouver, BC. He enjoys wordplay, hockey, and cured meats.
With apologies, this one should probably have gone out with a content warning. We are easily distracted rats and forgot to add them in. We're corrected our error and hope this hasn't impacted anyone in a negative way.