Thank You For Your Time

I wrote this Flash Fiction/Weird Fiction for a submission call that I saw, asking for a piece featuring a villain. I like to think that most villains are not easy to spot, and so I wrote a piece with a perky supernatural “villain” — who exists by stealing time from the living. (I got a very nice rejection letter and will probably craft more pieces to send to them in the future). I hope you enjoy this.

Jenna was a perky blonde twenty-something who moved from a big city back east to a small Texas town after making some life “mistakes” and deciding to start over. She loved her job at the little coffee shop in the center of town. It was a perfect gig. It was always busy, relatively happy and the time seemed to fly by.

She enjoyed her boss, Brenda, her co-workers and her ‘regulars’ — even the folks who were just passing through and stopped in. And they all loved her. In fact it was often remarked upon by customers and her co-workers, that the place just seemed happier with her in it.

Of course, all good things usually come to an end, and one day an elderly gentleman whom no one had seen before came into the coffee shop. Jenna looked up and recognition flashed across her face and he spotted her at the same time.

Jenna flew around the counter, taking the old man by surprise, as she squealed “Grampy!” and grabbing him into a tight hug, she whispered in his ear “please, not here.”

Pulling her arms from around him, he said loudly “Honey, let me look at you” in order to get a…