The Chaos Effect

Originally titled 'The Assassin.' From August 1996, short story (one-page)- this was the result of an assignment to write a one-page story. This was the first of my works ever to appear on my website.

The assassin slowly drifted out of the shadows to take aim. He gazed at the somber crowd to catch a glimpse of that which would be no more. A shallow veil of darkness surrounded his parting lips. It was as good a day as any to start a revolution, he thought. The instrument of death suddenly grew cold in his hand. Should I change the course of the world so drastically.  He struggled with his dissention at what the other had told him. The words echoed through hismind, his soul. Today is merely yesterday’s tomorrow. Lives must be saved. As he carefully pulled the trigger and released the deadly contents of his weapon, he realized that the fate of the world had suddenly been changed. There was no going back, the shot had been fired. The instrument of death slowly spiraled to meet its target in what seemed to the assassin to be eons of time. In the ensuing chaos the assassin had disappeared.

The hunters would come for him soon. The rupture in time would alert them to his
presence. The guardians with their precious unbreakable rules would make him dissipate for what he had done. The Guardians have their precious rules that no one can violate. Darkness overshot the land as they hurried upon his trail like the four horseman of the apocalypse. The time stream was collapsing as hurricane of lightning descended upon him. Then the storm abruptly ended with a horrendous crashing sound echoing through the streets. They had arrived. They stared at him with a diabolical hunger in their black eyes. He stared back at them with an empty gaze as if he knew his time had come. The leader opened his lips as if to spell out the assassin’s impending doom and then whispered softly in the wind, “Thank you.” The Guardians turned and slowly faded away into the darkness.