Alice Jenkins was not having an unusually trying day, though the litany of things she generally had to deal with might elicit more than a little sympathy. After all, apart from handling her own busy lifestyle, she also had to organise the lives of her three children and husband. Many people will have experienced similar burdens.

Not many people, however, will be able to identify quite so easily with what happened next. Because, whatever the reason, this is the story of the day things went very differently for Alice. Not to mention, for her children.

Whether you sympathise or even empathise with Alice’s eventual course of action will very likely depend upon your own situation and experiences - and probably on the kind of person you are and whether you are normally inclined to show understanding towards somebody who takes what can only be described as The Most Extreme Route Available. I suspect that a lot of you will find her actions difficult to forgive. In which case, you will be in much the same situation as her husband, Ian.

That said, the person who ought to be blamed for the things that happened on this fateful day is, I reckon, a much more divisive question.

In any case, extreme actions lead to extreme consequences, and whatever else happens, somebody is going to end up with an awful lot of cleaning to do.

CONTENT WARNING: this story does very much what it says on the tin and, for all that it is wildly allegorical and patently absurd, if you think you might be upset by it you should approach with caution. It is not suitable bedtime story material.