The Secret

Flash fiction with the words: boat, letter, trap

We slunk into the dark interiors of the basement. One by one, and with heavy hearts. I didn’t know anyone and it was obvious from the general level of discomfort around us that everyone was a stranger.

A hush fell as a man wearing a red suit walked in.

Ten men, ages varying from the early forties to the early fifties stood in the uneasy silence.

The man cleared his throat. “We all know why we are here.”

We nodded silently.

“Unfortunately, we are all in the same boat,” he continued with no hint of emotion in his voice.

“There is only one way out for us here.”

I looked around the room. I wondered what had made these men fall into the trap. I shrugged. It must have been very similar to how I got caught.

A few days earlier I woke up to a big red letter painted on my door. It was a ‘M’ and I knew this was the end. A shiver ran through me. How did anyone know?

One of the other men spoke. “How do we do this?”

More silence.

The man with the red suit smiled. I wished he hadn’t.

“I have a vial.”

It was strange that no one asked the big question. How did we all fall into the same trap?

He reached into his lapel pocket and pulled out a vial. Inside was a red liquid.

He sighed and it almost seemed like he was reuniting with a long-lost love.

There was no hesitation. He tilted his head back and took a sip. The vial went around.

I hoped it would never come to me but it did.

The last memory I had was my wife’s startled face as I slit her throat.