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Numbers
One, two, three, four...
The man doesn't recognise them under their masks. His eyes, myopically distracted by the gun Four holds to his head. He kneels, reaching skyward, uncharacteristically helpless.
"Seven, twenty-eight, sixty-five," he says.
"What?" Two asks, glaring at the papers the man is clutching protectively.
"The code to the safe," he stammers, and then adds, nervously "that's what you want… right?"
His question is answered in the silence that follows.
One's eyes survey the familiar walls. She'd left when she was seventeen, got a degree, a job, and later, a husband. But she never recovered.
Two ran away when he was twelve, went back into the system, found a new family. But he never forgot.
Four knew about the others. She found them, confided, schemed, and brought them back 'home'.
Shame got to Three before they had.
The man’s eyes dart between the three silhouettes in his moonlit foyer; bodies he's far too familiar with.
It clicks.
He begs for forgiveness, and for a moment, Four’s hand wavers, until she sees the adoption papers. The others nod.
BANG!
The man collapses, lifeless.
The counting stops and blood covers the papers, concealing the name that would have been Five.
About the Creator
J. R. Lowe
By day, I'm a PhD student, by night.... I'm still a PhD student, but sometimes I procrastinate by writing on Vocal. Based in Australia.
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Compelling and original writing
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Zero grammar & spelling mistakes
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Comments (14)
That was some fantastic writing! I enjoyed it immensely.
Josh, this is simply powerful!!! Wonderfully written micro fiction!!! ♥️♥️💕
I don't know how you got so much suspense and action in that short a span, but I'm impressed! This was a GREAT read!
That was unexpected and thrilling. I wasn't ready for that ending, great work J.R.! I loved your word choices and precision in how well you executed this micro fiction.
Wow! I couldn’t see where this was going, and you executed the micro fiction expertly, J R 💕🙂
An effective and tantalising micro that gives you just the right amount of info…😊👍
😱 🖤👣
This was so well done. I had an idea for a micro heist that is psychological horror, but I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to execute it. You were brave to tackle a sensitive subject like this, and I’m so glad you did. You’ve proven once again that you’re great at these micros!
Goosebumps!
Absolutely love this - so unique and original! Brilliant writing and a really engrossing read.
Wow! Disturbing, that’s probably why I loved it! Not exactly for the content but the chilling way it was written and played out.
This is so good I read it 3x 😱
It's just so heartbreaking. This isn't something that can be forgotten, recovered from or moved on from so easily. So glad you wrote about this!
Brilliant story telling