Bye-Bye Brad

By

Alex G. Zarate

Brad felt a shudder go through him as he took the flower. In a single moment, his confidence at breaking another heart was lost. The older sister his friends described as ‘witchy’ was going to be the topic of conversation for months to come, starting tonight.

Or at least that was the plan.

He said the right lines, got past her need to be around her friends and when she finally agreed to be alone with him by the lake, he knew he would have a new conquest to brag about. The scene happened the same as always until she handed him the flower, telling him it was his.

No. He realized. Not for him. She said the flower was him. That difference slipped his attention until he took it, felt the fine thorns prick his fingers and change the familiar situation he had grown accustomed to.

It took less than a second to drain his soul from his body, infusing it into the white flower that immediately turned red.

His limp body fell to the blanket he had put down with a smirk.

A moment later, he was in her grasp, feeling his petals being torn from his body as a familiar phrase was sung in a soft and beautiful voice. His screams were silent and would remain so until the words, and his life, concluded.

“He loves me, he loves me not…”

The End