By Michael Sixto

I got the text message while she was still asleep. Laying down in bed, she reminded me of a painting I saw many years ago in a dark gallery of New York. I remembered I hate that city; I can’t explain why, but I do. I tried not to wake her up minimizing the usual everyday morning noises, but she did anyways. You just got a text- she said- and turned around avoiding eye contact. I couldn’t wait any longer, so I went to grab the phone knowing exactly what I was going to find in the text. I slid my finger to unlock the phone. The message was clear: “kill her, kill her now!”

I took a deep breath and pulled out the gun from my pocket. I shot her once, just once and she had no time to feel a thing. On my way to the elevator I recalled the reason of my hatred to New York.