Flash Fiction: Sticky Black Stuff

I submitted this story to Adhoc Fiction last week. It didn't make it, so I thought I'd share it with you instead.

The challenge was to write a complete story in 150 words. I hope you like it!

"What are you doing, brother?" the man asked his sibling at the dinner table. "Experimenting with gravity?"

"No,” replied the boy. “I'm learning about friction." He tilted the dinner plate ever so slightly, watching the glass on top of it, and the sticky black liquid inside tilt, but not spill.

“As it relates to gravity, you mean. Anyway, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Mom’ll be mad if you spill.”

A clap of thunder startled the two brothers, causing the younger to lose concentration, and tilt the plate a hair further than he’d intended.

The glass slipped off the plate, and shattered on the floor, causing the sticky black soft drink to run everywhere.

“What on EARTH is going on in here? Now I’m going to have to wash this whole floor!”

Uh oh. Mom.

Later, the man stood over his brother’s bed, watching him rub his backside.