A Wolf in Plane Sight
Margaret Locke (margaretlocke.com or @Margaret_Locke)
210 words
“Somebody’s gonna need a good lawyer,” you say. “Hell of a lawsuit.”
I glance at the picture. “What kind of idiot climbs on to a burning airplane?”
“A hero,” you say. “For king and country.”
“We don’t have kings.”
You snort. “You know what I mean.”
I do.
What would it be like, to want to save people so badly you give your own life?
I can’t imagine. The only people I save are the ones who don’t deserve it.
“Innocent until proven guilty,” you always say.
But I can see it in their eyes, the ones who are lying. They all lie.
I see it in mine. I lie, too. For a living.
“His family deserves compensation,” you insist.
As if money can replace a life. I know. I tried.
I bought you everything, spending funds siphoned from the rich protecting their own. We throw the poor to the sharks. I threw your mother to the fishes.
I look again at the image. “The photographer must have died, too.”
You shrug. It makes no difference to you, that extra death.
It made all the difference for me.
“They need a good lawyer,” you repeat, eyeing me.
I shrug, my mouth twisting in a bitter grin. “Better not hire me.”
I missed a week, but I’m back with this bite-sized story that needed to incorporate the photo prompt along with “lawyer” as some sort of main character in 200 (+/-) words or fewer. What do you think?
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