Each week for the past few months (with a few exceptions) I have participated in the 5 Minute Fiction Challenge found over at Write Me!
This is what I can come up with in 5 Minutes (prompt = Sixty, thus the name of the story):
Sixty
Jerry had already visited the first five people on his list, but there were many more to see tonight. Sixty in all. Sixty people he wanted, no needed, to see before the authorities caught up with him, and they would catch up to him. He didn’t delude himself about that.
Number Six, Seven, and Eight lived about thirty minutes away from the rest, but they were worth the time lost. Number Six had betrayed him. She’d married Number Seven after dating him for over a year and breaking his heart. Number Eight was sorry the result.
They would all have to go.
All sixty who had hurt him, broke him, rejected him, scolded him, or lied to him. All sixty who had made him the mad man he was today. They would all get to see him one last time.
He knocked on the door. He had no reason to hide from anyone now. He was confident, he had the upper hand. There was no answer. There were a few lights on in the back of the house so he walked around to the kitchen. Peeking in the windows, the house looked abandoned. The knob was locked, but was a quick and easy fix.
He let himself in and took a look around. Meals sat half eaten on the kitchen table. A cordless phone on the counter. He picked it up and threw it out the still open door.
Turning around, he was met with the barrel of the shotgun. It wasn’t the end he had in mind, but it would do. He raised the hand with the pistol and pointed it at Number Seven. Not sure if he got a chance to pull the trigger, his world went dark.
You can join the 5 Minute Fiction Challenge each Tuesday at 1:30pm EST. If you don't write for the challenge, you can still vote for your favorite story. Visit Leah Petersen's blog, Write Me!
