Mr. Bones occupied his usual booth, back by the toilets. The somehow vague yet very specific stench kept most away.
Awaiting his next customer, Bones sat in the dark, monitoring the front door in the black reflection of the plate-glass. The Tip-Top Diner was nearly deserted at this late hour: two long-haul truckers mainlining coffee at the counter; Irene pouring refills.
Jimmy Shakes stumbled inside. With a sideways glance—left, then right—he staggered towards the booth in the back. Jimmy pulled a crumpled twenty from a grimy pocket and tossed it onto the table, cursing the tremors as he collapsed onto the torn Naugahyde seat. He wiped his hands on greasy jeans and stared blankly across at his benefactor.
Palm down, Mr. Bones slid spidery fingers across the Formica to arm’s length. He lifted his hand to reveal the glass ampule.
“Trick or treat, Jimmy.”
THE END
Robert Burns is a classically trained architect who brings a designer’s eye to his fiction—on occasion held together by a well-placed em dash.
A writer in multiple genres, his stories have appeared in several online publications and print anthologies and, although he also writes longer pieces, microfiction anchors a certain corner of his heart.
Readers can also find his work online at: www.robertcburns.wordpress.com
Robert writes full time from his home in Richmond, Virginia.
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