Claws
Category A: Second Place (2023) Monash Short Story Writing Competition
Author: Dulara Jayasekara
Liar, Liar, pants on fire.
Well, at least it sounds better than cheater. But it is what it is. I cheated Death, in a way. Made my own fate…My whole wardrobe would have spontaneously combusted into flames by now, if that was the case.
But it’s not like lying to a government facility or stealing test papers from your English teacher.
I didn’t want to do it.
Don’t you know that it physically pained me to see her in such suffering? To watch her body struggle and writhe against an invisible beast, such a monster that I can’t even comprehend? The raging creatures that I can’t possibly imagine roaming her mind, torturing her?
She begged me to.
I had no choice. She wanted to be in peace, I wanted to give her peace. End her troubles.
But how did you know that’s what she wanted?
She BEGGED me to save her! Save her from such a terrible existence! I did her a FAVOR! You have to give to take, it’s the natural order of life. The balance.
So playing God with her life was doing her a favor? It seems to me that you have a quite twisted perspective of the incident; it was murder. Do you have a Messiah complex?
I WAS NOT PLAYING GOD! I HELPED HER, AND ALL YOU ARE DOING IS CONVICTING ME OF A CRIME I DID NOT COMMIT!
(*sound of pen scratching in notebook*)
But you DID commit the crime. You are the one who forced her to take her last breath.
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO HEAR, HUH? WELL? THAT I DID IT AND I DON’T REGRET IT?
I want to hear the truth. A confession.
THIS IS THE TRUTH, THEN- YES, I HELD THE PILLOW- COVERED HER AIRWAYS UNTIL HER SCREAMS DIED OUT, AND SHE- She…
She was g-gone.
IT WAS NOT MURDER! I WILL AVENGE HER DEATH, AND SEEK VENGEANCE ON THE PEOPLE WHO PUT HER IN THAT HORRIBLE PLACE! I have just the idea, too…
And I’ll start with you.
Security. SECURITY! I need you in here, ASAP!
SECURI-
(*a crackle, then a thud- the line goes silent.*)
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