Murdering Malcolm
By my calculations, today’s post puts us at the half-way point in the A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. For those who haven’t been following, I’m writing 100-word flash fiction stories based on prompts suggested in the previous day’s comments. For today’s, I’ve chosen a prompt suggested by Jane Burgess a few days ago by accident (we were collecting L prompts at the time). But hand-on-heart, I didn’t think about it until last night, so I didn’t cheat! I still only gave myself a few hours to come up with a story. And here it is:
MURDERING MALCOLM
Simon and I work together. Freelancers. Guns for hire. Our main client is some shadowy operation called The Organization. We don’t need to know anything else about them as long as the money’s good. These days it’s a discreet direct deposit in our joint business account.
I got the call Friday night. Saturday morning we went to the safe deposit boxes. They usually give us a hit each. Payment upon completion.
We opened our envelopes together. Simon glanced up at me.
“Hey, Malcolm. I think they switch them by accident.”
I looked at the card inside mine.
It said, Malcolm.
Tomorrow’s Sunday, a day off from the A-to-Z Challenge, which gives me an extra day to think about Monday’s story. I’m looking for N prompts. So… noodle around in your noggins and see what you can come up with! 🙂
Love it! This one was extra fun =)
N is for Now or Never. Nag Nag Nag. Nervous Nelly. Nunchucks. Nothing wrong with your ability to crank out the flash fiction!
Dena
https://denapawling.blogspot.com
Thanks, Dena–I’m glad you liked it. 🙂 Good suggestions, too, though my ability to crank out flash fiction is being sorely tested, what with Janet’s contest too!!
Nice twist =)
Thanks, AJ!
Maybe you can spell it out for the stupid one(s) like me… Does it mean that the organization put their order in the wrong letter boxes and the two cards were meant for a different pair of assassins?
N for numb numbers.
First, you’re not stupid if you don’t get it. Because the word count is so small, a lot of information in flash fiction has to be inferred. Some people pick up on those inferences quickly; other’s don’t. Sometimes it’s the fault of the writer. Sometimes it’s nobody’s fault. Certainly no-one’s intelligence is in question.
In this instance, the big clue is the MC’s name. We don’t know it until Simon addresses him at the end. This was a deliberate rouse on my part so you would think he’s going to murder someone called Malcolm. Simon calls the MC “Malcolm.” He tells Malcolm the cards have been put in the wrong boxes. So, if Malcolm’s card says “Malcolm,” the inference is that Simon’s card says “Simon.” In other words, the Organization has put a hit out on them both, and they want one to kill the other.
Why would the Organization do this? A clue is dropped in the first paragraph, when the MC says, “… as long as the money’s good.” Perhaps these guys are too expensive. 🙂
That’s what I surmised, but I’m glad you confirmed it. No suggestions today (obviously) as I’m catching up.
A-Zing this year at:
FictionCanBeFun
Normally found at:
DebsDespatches