The Killing Place

In a future where Willful Elimination is legal and encouraged for the survival of the species. A fiction excerpt.

Photo by Tom Claes on Unsplash.

Hello, readers, writers and followers. Since the start of 2021, the AWS crew and I have been putting out various how-to’s for fiction writers, looking at technical craft elements, inspirational ideas, and gray-area stuff like closeness in point-of-view. This week: something different! It’s time to walk the walk and (hopefully) show some of these skills in action. So without any ado at all, here’s an excerpt from a fiction-in-progress, titled The Killing Place. It’s told from the point of view of Bernell Jackson, an employee at a franchise of the future where customers can seek Willful Elimination.

* * *

I don’t know how I thought it was a good idea, working at The Killing Place. But now that it’s been three months, it seems like a waste to up and leave. I’m trained in, and Mr. Amarusso seems resolved to my being there, at Registration Station 2, Monday through Friday. The pay and benefits are good. It’s about the nightmares, the waking hallucinations, the images that won’t go away when I shut my eyes.

I guess I thought I had considered the issues during the legal battle with the church and all. Questionable, yes. Unfortunate, yes. Gruesome, even…