‘Milking’ is a short story by Michael Cisco. It is part of Antisocieties – a collection of ten stories about isolation. The main character is a boy named Lucas who makes a shocking discovery concerning his family.
Every morning Lucas would come to the small room at the back of the house where a glass of milk was waiting for him. His father would always come in behind him, probably to make sure the boy would drink all of it. Then, mother would join them, and they would eat breakfast together. The dining room has always been reserved for the purpose of celebrating Lucas’s birthday; thus, they always dined in this back room of the house. After breakfast, Lucas would wait for his aunt to come by and see him to school; however, it was winter holiday,
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When Lucas returned home, he noticed his aunt sitting in the parlour and talking with his mother. They exchanged a few sentences about his day, and then she informed him that his cousins would come later for dinner. When he went upstairs, his mother and aunt started to whisper, but he did not consider it strange; on the contrary, he suspected they might have been planning some pleasant surprise for him. As he played, he occasionally heard the faint ringing of the doorbell, followed by muffled greetings. These voices belonged to his cousins, uncle and aunt’s friend. In the late afternoon, his mother came to his room and told him to come down and say hello to everyone. When they were walking down the stairs, she reminded him to stay away from the kitchen until the adults were finished in there. Lucas always heard that order on special occasions; it was one of the few iron rules established by his parents. Once, he tried to peek inside; however, his father stood in his way and ordered him to go read with his aunt. When he came down, he noticed that everyone – his parents, aunt and cousins – looked nervous and explained to himself that, in fact, it was not real sadness but rather the overwhelm