Oh my goodness. It is only 7:00 p.m. here, but I’m already slap happy. I just grabbed a scary book off the shelf and will use the last line. Here goes nothing…

No Witnesses

It was the first time the roof of the
emerald convertible had ever been opened.
They were honeymooners and
borrowed the car from a temperate old uncle.
They wanted the full experience.
The roof folded back with one magical click
of a button on the dash.

They rode carelessly,
willy nilly
happily down Highway 1
toward Big Sur,
feeling the breeze in their hair
Eating their favorite
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and roasted almonds
laughing at each other’s jokes,
like they were the best comedians,
thinking they were each the luckiest
person alive.

They both agreed when
they saw the stranded motorist.
They had time to help.
Maybe he needs a charge.
Yeah, for his phone or his car.

Hello, can we help?

The man leaning into the VW bus
stood up quickly and said,
Nah. Everything’s fine.

Really, we’ve got all day.
We can help. It’s kind of deserted out here.

Nah, I’m good.

The happy couple
got out of the car
and walked over to the bus.
The man tried to slide the door closed,
but the bloody arm fell out
just before the door latched.

Oh, sir. I’m sure she needs help.
May we call the doctor?

It didn’t take long to deal with the
naïve and nosy couple.

This time, there would be no witnesses.

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Last line from the last line in Lies of Silence by Brian Moore