Austin Briggs's Blog, page 40
December 5, 2012
The Final Word
She looked me in the eye as I ate: stared me out. At least the food was good: grillsteak, fries, chillies.
“Where’d you put ‘em?” she asked, clockwatching.
Mouthful.
“You gonna tell me? Family needs closure.”
Another forkful. Two hours to the chair. My final meal was to be savoured, despite the chafing cuffs.
“Nope.”
Mark Brown.
The Final Word is a post from: Adventure and Learning
The Map
After my grandfather’s death, a package arrived. Inside was a map of Oak Island, Nova Scotia, yellowed and cracked with age and signed ‘Captain William Kidd 1699′. An “X” marked the Money Pit. Faded arrows led to another “X” on the island’s far side. A scribbled note read ‘Alan! They’re digging in the wrong place!
Michael Coady.
The Map is a post from: Adventure and Learning
My Secret
I killed a man tonight.
It wasn’t hard.
Empty platform, late evening.
Approaching train.
He shuffled forward, tired, heading home.
A quiet ‘Boo’ in his right ear.
Startled, looking not seeing.
A longer ‘Booo’ in his left ear, reverse spin, stumbles.
Hello Train.
Goodbye World.
Now he sees me, for I am also dead.
Welcome.
Trevor Jones.
My Secret is a post from: Adventure and Learning
Fishing
Deep in a place where no one cared to venture, he sat, stick in hand at the waters edge of a pond that was never there.
After standing at the edge of everyone’s view for so long, he finally found an edge where he could just sit. Fishing. Forever lost. Never wanting to be found.
Tim Crawford.
Fishing is a post from: Adventure and Learning
Walkthrough
Okay… Lock smashed. Door ajar. Home intrusion. Footprint in conveniently-placed talcum powder. Picture askew, scratch across table, lamp knocked to floor. Clip, clip… bullet hole in the wall, a second smashed the window. Two shots. Knocked coffee table, abrasion on sofa, upturned table behind. Victim retreated into apartment. Rug pushed back, and… body. Perfect.
Walkthrough is a post from: Adventure and Learning
Outsider
I look down at the mess I’ve made. The noise and commotion of just a moment ago is replaced now by a cold, dead silence. I shift my grip on the shotgun. It still feels unnatural and heavy in my hands. My lips crack into a smile. I finally had a secret of my own.
Outsider is a post from: Adventure and Learning
Secrets on Top of Secrets
It was a delightful little hobby, he mused, the collecting of secrets. People paid him not to tell, and his silence didn’t come cheap.
He heard the knock on the door, and waited.
The woman entered, surprising him wth a secret all her own, and bought his silence with a deadly shot to the heart.
Deborah Lean.
Secrets on Top of Secrets is a post from: Adventure and Learning
Brothers and Sisters
“Look what I found,” her brother teased, holding his sister’s diary out of her reach.
“Give me that, or you’ll be sorry.”
“Wait until I tell Jimmy what you really think of him.”
She kneed him in the crotch and grabbed the diary when he fell to his knees, moaning.
“Told you you’d be sorry.”
Deborah Lean.
Brothers and Sisters is a post from: Adventure and Learning
December 3, 2012
I’ll Never Tell
“If you let me go, I promise I won’t tell,” she pleaded, her words falling on deaf ears.
“I know you won’t, but the only way to ensure a secret stays a secret,” he told her, “is to be the only one left alive to tell.”
Stepping forward, he made sure his secret was safe.
Deborah Lean.
I’ll Never Tell is a post from: Adventure and Learning
Bursting with Secrets
“597 pounds, 27 more than last time, I thought we were cutting back.”
“I’m trying, but it’s hard.”
The big man burped and farted as he dressed.
“Sorry, Doc.”
“Isn’t there someone you can share them with, to ease the pressure?”
“Look at me, Doc. Would you talk to me if you didn’t have to?”
O.D. Trebor.
Bursting with Secrets is a post from: Adventure and Learning
