Monday, January 17, 2011

They Travel Together

She met him in a bar in Kansas City. He needed a ride and she could use the company. So they travelled through Kansas and Colorado and on into Utah together. It was a silent trip and she liked that. They conversed only when necessary about gas, restrooms and food.They stopped at a gas station just outside Bluff, Utah. She waited for an hour but he never came back to the car. He was gone. He had left just as quietly as he had entered. As the years rolled by she would sometimes wonder about that fellow traveler, who was he, where did he go, that sort of thing. When she died at 85 after a long and happy life in California where she had escaped to, an old man showed up at her funeral that no one knew. He walked up to the casket, knelled, spoke a few words to the deceased and then left. After he left if you had been a keen observer you may have noticed the small photo, that the man had carried for 60 years, tucked into the folds of the caskets satin lining. It was a photo of a beautiful young woman and written on the back were instructions from the man's boss, " Kill this Bitch, no one leaves me before I am done with them."

13 comments:

rebecca said...

very good twist...i liked it.

Lucy said...

great surprise ending! It made me want to go back and re-read the story! I love when that happens. :)

Granny Smith said...

Talk about a surprise ending! It ambushed me. Up until then, the story seemed well-written but not suspenseful, except for the usual suspense of any story, which is "What happened next?"

Anonymous said...

Very intense

Anonymous said...

WOW ... Sensational ... yikes excellent twist ... phew what a gotcha!!!! Well done and Thank YOU!

Tumblewords: said...

Love the twist - totally took me off guard. Neat story!

Amber said...

I always wonder where you get these ideas... lol! Very good.

:)

Anonymous said...

you are a master of short fiction..


leveller

GreenishLady said...

Oh, that was a powerful punch at the end. Great little story.

Linda Jacobs said...

Diabolical ending! Excellent!

John E. Tran said...

Wow!

Forgetfulone said...

Wow!!! What a surprise. You're very good at that. You're also very good at saying so much in a fairly small space. I couldn't get inspired by the prompt this week, but I do enjoy reading others. Fabulous!

little wing writer said...

one of the more excellent short stories i've read in a long time...hopefully it is one..**smiling**...never ever would have guessed the ending...keep em coming!!