3 Deadly Drabbles - Release the Poison

A trio of poisonous tales to seep into your bloodstream

Brown List

Human resources were sure that no one in the company had access to their files, but they forgot the IT guy. I saw the Brown List a month before the layoffs were set to be announced. My name being on it was unacceptable.

I had worked too hard to be deemed disposable, so my plan was simple. I chose to focus on the slackers who survived the cut.

A little drop of poison in their bagged lunches set things in motion. Three are dead already, and two more are sick. Best of all, my name is now off the list.

Ankle Biters

Looking back, I should have paid attention to the sign that read, “WARNING: Toadskulls are in Season.” In my defense, I assumed the farmer was simply getting creative in order to stop hikers cutting through his field.

I was about halfway across when I felt the first nip at my ankles. Looking down, I noticed a brightly colored toadstool with the face of an old man and the teeth of a shark.

I should have gone back the way I came, but I tried to keep going. The bites grew ferocious, but the poison, that’s what cost me my legs.

Below

I can hear them up there, pacing back and forth, wailing for their child to return. When the police leave, the charade ends and the music begins.

In death, my senses remain, but I can feel them fading. The everyday stench of the trailer above me is fading, replaced by scents of soil and my increasing decay.

I can feel the poison mummy and daddy fed me still somehow coursing through my veins, and I assume it is eating away at my last remaining tether to the real world. All I want is to scream and have the truth uncovered.