“OH MY GOD! I AM DOING THE SAME THING! I KNOW WHO I MUST KILL” his thoughts were interrupted by another childish musical number came over the magic black box overhead. It was as if a referee had fired the pistol at the beginning of a hundred yard dash. He watched the two women start kicking and shouting, doing their very best to immobilize one another.
The other man simply clung to the chairs with all of their might, watching the show in horror. Kevin followed suit and claimed his own seat and let the women figure out which would die and which would live. He had to conserve his energy after all. He KNEW that in a matter of time, he too would have to fight for the right to survive.
Then the music died. The music died and both women started to quake where they stood. It took twice as long for their hearts to stop as it did the mousey woman, but eventually, the death count rose by two bodies. Just as before, the strange man came and took out away a chair. Two chairs this time. Leaving only one lonely seat.
Kevin held his breath. This was it. Fight or die! The music started once more and he waited for the impending violent assault on his large meaty body. Nothing. He let out a hot gasp of air and started to dart for the chair.
“WAIT!” came the voice of the other survivor.
“Stand on the chair. If you do that we will both survive.”
Thoughts rattled around in his head.
Will that work? Should I just kick him down when the music stops?
He heard the music wind down and jumped upon the rubber chair, the front of his shoes lingered dangerously close to the water. The other man followed suit and clung to Kevin. No electricity came.
After an eternal moment of agonizing silence, the armed man entered the room. The sound of a single gunshot caused a nasty ringing in his ear. Kevin felt the warm splash of gore upon his face as the bullet ripped through the stranger’s brain tissue.
He felt heavy. Very heavy. The man’s body went limp in Kevin’s arms and the chair started to tip. He released his grip and let the corpse crumple to the ground. He felt tears swell in his eyes as he stood face to face with the twisted man.
The man slowly pulled the mask off of his face and stared Kevin straight in the eyes.
“He cheated.” The man stated calmly
“Kevin O’Neal, once again you are the McDonald County Musical Chairs Champion. I have to wonder though…”
His voice trailed off as he backed himself to the doorway and aimed the barrel straight at Kevin’s head.
“PLEASE! PLEASE DON’T. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?”
His tears fell freely and his chest struggled to expand as the icy touch of desperation and fear hindered him. Kevin simply stood upon the rubber chair waiting for death.
He watched as the man threw the key across the room and let it sink to the bottom of the make shift creek. He stepped just outside the door and turned on the electricity.
“I have to wonder if you ever you ever suffered defeat. Really suffered. I guess we will find out.”
Darkness. Kevin heard the door lock once more and caught a random glimpse of blue sparks emanating from the water below his feet. Anthony knew it was only a matter of time. A matter of time before Kevin O’Neal would suffer defeat.
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*~*~*
My Friend, Death
Have you ever wondered what controls whether we live or die? Is it fate or destiny or maybe just pure chance? How about luck of the draw? Are we on a set path in this lifetime, or is everything just coincidence?
These questions never once crossed my mind. After all isn’t the saying, “You only live once”? So why not make the best of it while you can. Of course at that time I hadn’t yet come face to face with Death yet, I hadn’t even considered the possibility that Death had more say in our lives than we ever cared to admit. We all meet him at some point, whether we like to admit it or not. Mostly we try avoid it, we pretend that it won’t happen at all.
Well I have met Death, pretty nice guy if you ask me. Now, before you even think of asking... He does not wear a black hooded cloak, he does not have a scythe. In fact, he is really just as normal as you and me. The only difference is, he does have the ability to give and take life. I myself have witnessed this on several different occasions and let me tell you right now, it’s not as glamorous or magical as you might imagine. Hollywood has a way of overplaying things. .
We have become really close friends, and one of our favorite pastimes is playing dice. I’m sure most of you have at least once in your life played liars dice or Yahtzee. What we play is very similar, with only one big difference, we play for souls.
Once a week we get together, no specific place, and play a few rounds. If I win, a life is spared, if Death wins... Well I’m sure you can figure out what happens, a life gets taken. So, here are some of the poor souls we have either let lit, or extinguished.
*~*~*
William Peterson, aged 36. He works as a lawyer at a prestigious law firm. He owns a beautiful large four bedroom Victorian house in an upscale part of town and drives the newest Mercedes Benz. Married to the love of his life, Michelle Peterson. A lovely young woman, the perfect trophy wife. Together they have two young children, Paul and Jessie. Both under the age of five.
He works out at the gym once a day, and is very health conscious. Fit as a fiddle with no record of heart problems what so ever. The kind of man you would imagine would live to be at least eighty years of age before any kind of health issues became apparent.
The perfect life, or so it would seem. With just a few throws of a dice, his fate would be sealed... Here we go! A collective score out of three throws of the dice from each of us is the deciding factor. Death won.
After a long day at work, William headed off towards the gym. He spent an hour on the treadmill, warming up for some heavy lifting. A sudden sharp pain shot down his left arm, accompanied by a searing pain in his chest. Before he could shout out for help, William Peterson fell to the ground, dead.
*~*~*
Lauren Smith, aged 67. A spinster who lives with a bunch of cats... The hilariousness of this one had me interested. A typical “crazy cat lady”, and not a very nice one at that. She hates humanity and is a very bitter old lady. Throwing stones at people who annoy her is her favorite pastime.
Whenever she sees a homeless or jobless person on the street, she shouts at them, tries to kick them in the shin and sometimes even goes as far as spitting on them. Many people wish her dead, and would probably pay for front row tickets in order to witness her death. Death and I would make a small fortune if we actually did this, surely we can come up with some sort of plan...
Her health is wavering though. High blood pressure and cholesterol, arthritis and dementia is a daily struggle. The usual illnesses that plague the elderly.
I hate to admit it, but honestly, I hope that Death wins this round. Miserable people like this, who get their pleasures from making others just as miserable as themselves, really don’t deserve to live in this wondrous world we live in.
Just my luck though. It seems the dice have decided to let old crazy cat lady live this round. Death thinks it’s one huge joke on my behalf.
*~*~*
We never know when our own death approaches, and thus we should always try and make the best of this life. Enjoy it, without making life hard for others. There is more joy in being happy with those around you, than there is being bitter and hateful.
If you dislike someone, for whatever reason, let it be. Do not go out of you way to hurt them. In the end, the only person you are hurting, is yourself. Live, love and be happy. Forgive, never forget, and remember the good as well as the bad.
I am now an old man aged 88. My time is near, Death has been a great companion these many years. I have seen and experienced as much as I possibly could. I have travelled and seen the world. I have met so countless amazing and truly interesting people. I have loved greatly, been a husband, a father, a grandfather and even a great-grandfather. I have watch
ed with pride and humility as my family has prospered and bloom.
I have no regrets, all but one. In the eighth grade there was a young beautiful girl names Anne. I regret not kissing her. What can I say, I love the ladies.
*~*~*
“I am ready to play my friend.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, my time has to come sooner or later.”
“As you wish.”
With a few rolls of the dice, a last fate will be sealed, this time my own. I am ready to enter the afterlife, where I shall await the arrival of those I love. I hope them the best and know that Death will be kind to them.
“The Dice have spoken, I shall see you soon my friend.”
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*~*~*
Last Call
Early 1800’s
“Last call!”
The booming voice of the tavern keeper echoed over the hand carved wooden bar. Dawn was approaching fast and the last round of drinks was about to be served. The overcrowded tavern would soon fall silent for the day.
Elijah slowly got up, rocking slightly on his feet and let out a blasting belch as he raised his giant hand to signal for a last shot of whiskey. He had been ingesting shots of the burning liquid since dusk had settled over the town. The thought of going home to his wife who nagged at him for every tiny thing made his head hurt.
Screw it, I’ll just go straight to work.
He was more excited about the chopping of wood than he was at the prospect of facing Magdaline. Fifteen years, for fifteen years he had been burdened with a mousy little know it all. To this day he still could not figure out what had possessed him to marry her.
After his final shot, Elijah made his way outside to retrieve his horse from the paddock behind the tavern. He fumbled with the reigns as he hooked the giant black horse to his small wooden wagon. Caesar, his pride and joy. Magdaline had been furious the day he had returned home after a week of being M.I.A only to find out that he had gone and spent their entire life savings on a horse. He still had the scar on his eyebrow to remind him of her fury. She had thrown plates and cups at him, till finally in her fit of rage, her hand had found the heavy cast iron pot she used for all her delicious stews.
Damn woman!
His head ached and his intestines felt like it was a blazing inferno. Whiskey, his salvation as well as his worst enemy. The trip into the woods didn’t help his constitution.
It seemed like the wagon was rocking back and forth and side to side more often on this trip. He cursed the horse and whipped him harder with the crop in his large hand. Elijah knew he was being unreasonable, in the end, this was all his own fault. Only he could be blamed for knocking up Magdaline, he felt responsible enough to ask her to marry him. The fact that she had a miscarriage halfway through her pregnancy wasn’t her fault. It was him who had decided for them to move outside of town, his own choice to become a lumberjack.
Finally reaching his destination, he lifted his large body out of the wagon and took up his axe. He would take out his frustration on some innocent trees.
*~*~*
A handful of hours had passed, Elijah wiped his sweat soaked brow with his forearm. His mouth and throat felt like he had chewed on and swallowed a fistful of cotton. He headed back towards his wagon, somewhere between all his rags and tools he had hidden a near half bottle of whiskey and an old sandwich or two. No way was he going to face his wife right now, she would tell him to make his own food.
Elijah was just busy taking a large swig of whiskey when his eyes fell on a small thatched roof building a few hundred yards ahead of him. He choked and spluttered. He was sure there had been nothing there just a few moments ago.
He rubbed his eyes and stepped forward. Either he had drank too much or his eyes were playing tricks on him, but the closer he got to the small building, the more he thought he might be dreaming.
He could hear loud music from within. The sound of men chattering and arguing grew louder and louder. He could even hear the laughter and giggles of woman. Curiosity overtook surprise. Elijah walked right up to the faded red door of the building and knocked loudly. He waited for what seemed an eternity before the door finally swung open.
Before him stood the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
“Well hello there dearie. Welcome, welcome. Please come on in.”
“Wh-what is this place?”
Elijah’s eyes nearly popped out of his head as he took in the sight. It was a tavern, filled to the brim with men just like him, but that was not all. Each man had a woman with him. Beautiful exotic woman who were flinging themselves at some of the ugliest S.O.B’s he had ever seen.
“What can I get you Love?”
He had almost forgotten about the beauty who had greeted him. For a moment he just stared at her with a blank expression on his face. God how he wished Magdaline had looked like this. Then he would have absolutely no problem putting up with her constant nagging. This woman was tall and slender, had the biggest, brightest green eyes and a thick head of long curly black hair. The tips reached down and caressed her perfect buttocks. His eyes finally reached her ample breasts. They were large and nearly spilling out of the tight corset she was wearing.
“I... Whiskey”
She giggled slightly at his stutter, took his hand in her own and led him to the bar where she instructed the barkeeper to hurry up and get Elijah his whiskey.
*~*~*
Elijah thought he was in heaven. He had been drinking non-stop, not knowing what the time was, and not really caring. He had made some conversation with a few of the other men and had even gone as far as playing a couple hands of poker. Of course he always lost, but this didn’t bother him. It was worth it. The young beauty had stayed by his side the entire time. She had even so much as hinted that she was willing to go to one of the empty rooms in the back and show him the time of his life. The only obstacle was his own guilt. How could he face Magdaline if he made love to another woman? His will was waning though. Temptation! His desire for this woman grew and grew with each passing minute.
Screw Magdaline!
Finally he gave in. Bliss! It had been absolute bliss. How had he not known about this place? He had worked in these woods for years. He pondered on this for only a few seconds though. Why question the will of the Gods?
Afterwards, when he and his lady were laying on the cold ground in the empty room, a loud voice came from behind the door.
“Last call!”
All his physical needs had been sated, now to quench his thirst. He got up and left the woman sleeping. Once more he signalled for a whiskey. This time making sure he savored it before he started heading back to his life outside. At some stage he would have to go home and face his wife. Right now he was going to enjoy his last few minutes of heaven.
His hand was resting on the doorknob, he turned around and gave a final nod and smile. Elijah was unprepared for what he saw when he opened the faded red door.
There, right in front of him, was the tree he had been chopping, except it had fallen. He could not remember that he had actually gotten as far as chopping right through it.
“What the hell?!”
Beneath the fallen tree was a body, crushed. He could barely make out the face of the person... The only thing he did recognize was the shirt and the long scraggly beard. It was him, it was Elijah.
A soft hand touched his shoulder from behind. He spun around and was met with the bright green eyes of the woman he had just made love to.
“I am sorry dear. You died the moment you saw this tavern. This was your final day in this world. Each person is rewarded a final moment of pleasure, this was yours.”
*~*~*
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*~*~*
Do you love Short Fiction? Are you a huge fan of Poetry? Then you will LOVE what Ink Blood has in store for you! From Novellas to Anthologies, you can find your next great literary love.
INK BLOOD PUBLISHING
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