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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Mystery
- Subject: Revenge / Poetic Justice / Karma
- Published: 11/25/2023
Sure Enough
Born 1947, M, from Oceanside, United StatesSure Enough
The first time it happened, he thought it was a coincidence. Even after the second time he read a story about someone being punished for what they had done wrong, he still believed it was just a coincidence. But after the third time he read about someone being made to suffer in the exact way he thought they should, Tobey came to realize that something truly strange was happening.
At home, he usually skipped TV news programs. Instead, he watched mostly unscripted reality shows, plus a few of the more popular network shows. But work was where he’d read stories about various crimes having been committed. That’s when he usually thought about what should happen to the people who committed them.
This was exactly what he was doing when he read a news report about a local high school basketball coach who was being investigated for allegedly having had carnal relations with one or more of his female players. Incensed, Tobey mumbled, “Someone should take a sword to the guy’s nether regions. That would teach him.”
Sure enough, that’s exactly what someone did.
Shaken by the idea that such a gruesome act of retribution might have been his fault, Tobey decided that maybe he should skip the world and local news for a while and just concentrate on obituaries. After all, those people were already dead. What more could be done to them?
More than he thought.
After he read an obituary about a very rich local businessman who had died before he could be indicted for fraud and swindling several people out of their entire life savings, Tobey mumbled, “Someone should dig up the old fart and make him give back all the money he stole.”
Sure enough, someone managed to do just that.
The next week, when Tobey read about what had happened to the businessman, he had just one question: who was doing this and why? In the past, he’d often had thoughts about taking revenge upon people who had done bad things to others, but neither he, nor anyone he knew had ever acted upon them . . . and then it hit him. Wait a minute! All this began right after the new girl in finance had started working in his building. Could she be the one who was picking up on his desires for retribution?
Nah . . . stupid idea, he thought.
But then while he was eating lunch in the office cafeteria, he noticed a folded piece of paper which had suddenly appeared on the edge of the table across from him. Where had it come from? Was it there when he sat down? He didn’t think so. Plus, he couldn’t remember seeing anyone pass by close enough to have dropped it there.
Picking up the piece of paper, he unfolded it and found a single handwritten message on the inside. Meet me in the parking lot by your jeep as soon as you’re done eating.
Quickly scanning the room, Tobey saw that no one was paying him even the slightest bit of attention. He looked at the message a second time. Should he do what it says, or should he ignore it?
Curiosity getting the better of him, Tobey stood and moved toward the exit. Going out into the rear parking lot, he saw her standing beside his jeep. Sure enough, it was the new girl in finance!
“Why are you doing this?” he asked when he got close.
“Doing what?”
“Reading my thoughts and then using them to attack people?”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Yes—No—I mean . . .” Tobey felt confused. “Well, at least, tell me this. How are you able to pick up on someone’s thoughts, even if you’re not in same room with them?”
“It’s just something I was born with.”
Tobey stared bug-eyed at her. “What are you, some kind of alien?”
The girl, who looked to be somewhere in her mid to late twenties and Asian replied, “No, I’m human.”
“Then how?”
“It’s best if you don’t ask too many questions.”
But Tobey still had more questions, such as, “That businessman, how did you manage to reanimate his body? And that note you left on my table in the cafeteria, how did you put it there without me seeing you?”
“I told you, don’t ask questions.”
Undeterred, Tobey continued, “But why me and why my thoughts?”
“Because, you broadcast your emotions more strongly than anyone I’ve ever encountered. You’re like a giant radio turned up all the way, which is why I can be miles away and know exactly what you’re thinking.” And then as he watched, she turned and began to walk back toward the rear of the building.
“Wait!” he called after her. “So, what happens now?”
Without turning, she replied, “You keep on checking the news, and I’ll keep on taking revenge upon those who deserve it.”
Tobey wasn’t sure he liked that idea. After all, if she was using his frustrations with bad people as an excuse to hurt them, he could end up going to jail for participating in a conspiracy.
Alone, Tobey continued to stand in the parking lot while debating with himself about whether or not to go back inside. Instead, he climbed into his jeep and drove slowly back to his apartment. Once inside, he tried to figure out without success what his next move should be.
Eventually giving up, he sat on his couch and numbly stared at whatever happened to be on the TV. Finally getting up, he cooked himself dinner, then settled his flabby, twenty-something body back down on his couch to watch a re-run of one of his favorite reality shows, Bait Car. Almost immediately, his program was interrupted by a special news bulletin.
Tobey groaned as he watched the report. It said that the midget-like leader of a Middle Eastern terrorist group, who had been making threats against the United States and all of its allies in the Pacific, had added a nuclear component to his most recent threat. Tobey, who always thought the bearded little SOB had a really big mouth for someone his size, mumbled without thinking, “Someone should hard staple his lips together. That would shut him up for a while!”
Sure enough, two days later, someone did just that. Did Tobey feel any guilt?
Not really.
Sure Enough(Tom Di Roma)
Sure Enough
The first time it happened, he thought it was a coincidence. Even after the second time he read a story about someone being punished for what they had done wrong, he still believed it was just a coincidence. But after the third time he read about someone being made to suffer in the exact way he thought they should, Tobey came to realize that something truly strange was happening.
At home, he usually skipped TV news programs. Instead, he watched mostly unscripted reality shows, plus a few of the more popular network shows. But work was where he’d read stories about various crimes having been committed. That’s when he usually thought about what should happen to the people who committed them.
This was exactly what he was doing when he read a news report about a local high school basketball coach who was being investigated for allegedly having had carnal relations with one or more of his female players. Incensed, Tobey mumbled, “Someone should take a sword to the guy’s nether regions. That would teach him.”
Sure enough, that’s exactly what someone did.
Shaken by the idea that such a gruesome act of retribution might have been his fault, Tobey decided that maybe he should skip the world and local news for a while and just concentrate on obituaries. After all, those people were already dead. What more could be done to them?
More than he thought.
After he read an obituary about a very rich local businessman who had died before he could be indicted for fraud and swindling several people out of their entire life savings, Tobey mumbled, “Someone should dig up the old fart and make him give back all the money he stole.”
Sure enough, someone managed to do just that.
The next week, when Tobey read about what had happened to the businessman, he had just one question: who was doing this and why? In the past, he’d often had thoughts about taking revenge upon people who had done bad things to others, but neither he, nor anyone he knew had ever acted upon them . . . and then it hit him. Wait a minute! All this began right after the new girl in finance had started working in his building. Could she be the one who was picking up on his desires for retribution?
Nah . . . stupid idea, he thought.
But then while he was eating lunch in the office cafeteria, he noticed a folded piece of paper which had suddenly appeared on the edge of the table across from him. Where had it come from? Was it there when he sat down? He didn’t think so. Plus, he couldn’t remember seeing anyone pass by close enough to have dropped it there.
Picking up the piece of paper, he unfolded it and found a single handwritten message on the inside. Meet me in the parking lot by your jeep as soon as you’re done eating.
Quickly scanning the room, Tobey saw that no one was paying him even the slightest bit of attention. He looked at the message a second time. Should he do what it says, or should he ignore it?
Curiosity getting the better of him, Tobey stood and moved toward the exit. Going out into the rear parking lot, he saw her standing beside his jeep. Sure enough, it was the new girl in finance!
“Why are you doing this?” he asked when he got close.
“Doing what?”
“Reading my thoughts and then using them to attack people?”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Yes—No—I mean . . .” Tobey felt confused. “Well, at least, tell me this. How are you able to pick up on someone’s thoughts, even if you’re not in same room with them?”
“It’s just something I was born with.”
Tobey stared bug-eyed at her. “What are you, some kind of alien?”
The girl, who looked to be somewhere in her mid to late twenties and Asian replied, “No, I’m human.”
“Then how?”
“It’s best if you don’t ask too many questions.”
But Tobey still had more questions, such as, “That businessman, how did you manage to reanimate his body? And that note you left on my table in the cafeteria, how did you put it there without me seeing you?”
“I told you, don’t ask questions.”
Undeterred, Tobey continued, “But why me and why my thoughts?”
“Because, you broadcast your emotions more strongly than anyone I’ve ever encountered. You’re like a giant radio turned up all the way, which is why I can be miles away and know exactly what you’re thinking.” And then as he watched, she turned and began to walk back toward the rear of the building.
“Wait!” he called after her. “So, what happens now?”
Without turning, she replied, “You keep on checking the news, and I’ll keep on taking revenge upon those who deserve it.”
Tobey wasn’t sure he liked that idea. After all, if she was using his frustrations with bad people as an excuse to hurt them, he could end up going to jail for participating in a conspiracy.
Alone, Tobey continued to stand in the parking lot while debating with himself about whether or not to go back inside. Instead, he climbed into his jeep and drove slowly back to his apartment. Once inside, he tried to figure out without success what his next move should be.
Eventually giving up, he sat on his couch and numbly stared at whatever happened to be on the TV. Finally getting up, he cooked himself dinner, then settled his flabby, twenty-something body back down on his couch to watch a re-run of one of his favorite reality shows, Bait Car. Almost immediately, his program was interrupted by a special news bulletin.
Tobey groaned as he watched the report. It said that the midget-like leader of a Middle Eastern terrorist group, who had been making threats against the United States and all of its allies in the Pacific, had added a nuclear component to his most recent threat. Tobey, who always thought the bearded little SOB had a really big mouth for someone his size, mumbled without thinking, “Someone should hard staple his lips together. That would shut him up for a while!”
Sure enough, two days later, someone did just that. Did Tobey feel any guilt?
Not really.
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