Yesterday I wrote a horror drabble and sent it along to a periodical for hopeful publication. In case you don’t know what a “drabble” is, it’s a 100-word exact start-to-finish story engineered to test a writer’s mettle in brevity.

I feel like my submission made the mark, but I’ll let the editors decide. I had such a blast knocking that one out in 20 minutes, I decided to do another one, writing it in my head at the gym this morning.

I always wanted to pen a dénouement for a superhero character I wrote at Cyber Age Adventures when I was with them many moons ago. I wrote five different serialized superhero stories then, and out of all of them, Revolutionary, whom I came up with out of a love of Black Panther since my childhood, resonates the most with me. Last year, I started writing him a finale story I never finished. I think giving him a drabble closure says what I’ve always wanted to say for him. I hope you enjoy.

End of Revolutionary’s Watch

by Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Some scars never fade.  Some battles are meant to be lost. 

            One thing remains constant; evil never dies.

            Jemahl knocks on a door for what he knows is the last time.

            The cadre returned after Revolutionary put them down.  So Jemahl thought, weeping with a vow graveside after they took Latisha from him nine years ago.

            The door opens.  Jemahl, bleeding out, pupils blurring, smiles through crimson teeth.

            “I made sure this time,” he moans, reaching to touch Qadry’s cheek.

            “God, you were him all along,” Qadry blurts through his own sudden tears.

            “I love you son,” becomes Revolutionary’s epitaph.