Loose Lips

Loose Lips

By Michael Cannata  

In his dream, he was talking to someone he couldn't see. He was explaining how he wanted his wife killed. "It must look like an accident," he insisted. "I get double the money if she dies accidentally."

His dream kept shifting and he saw his wife's face where the hit-man's should be. She was taking notes and smiling. "Maybe we should make it look like an intruder broke in," she said in the hit-man's voice.  He explained why that was a bad idea before he realized who he was talking to. When he looked at her, the face of the hit man had taken her place.

Relieved, he started talking again. "She has no idea. You're the only one who can ruin this! I trust you, but, if you turn on me, I've arranged to take you out as well." He was bluffing, but he had to try and make sure the hit-man did his job.

When the hit-man spoke, it was his wife's voice again. "I still think an intruder is the best plan," she insisted. "Whatever you say," replied the hit-man from the dark edges of the dream.

"What? NO!" he cried. "No cop is going to believe an intruder came into my home, killed my wife, and left me unharmed. That's crazy!"

His wife's voice came out of the hit-man again. "But, you'll be a hero when you save me by fighting him off, sweetheart!"

He rolled over in his sleep, sweating. Why did the hit-man sound like his wife? The last thing he saw in his dream was his wife's face. He heard the hit-man say, "Time to get up, buddy. I have a job to do."

He woke to find his wife sitting across the room, holding a small voice recorder in her hand. The hit-man stood beside her with a gun pointed at him.

"Did you know you talk in your sleep, sweetheart?" she asked coldly. He heard his voice coming from the recorder, revealing everything he'd been planning.

He scrambled from his bed, his dream quickly transforming into a waking nightmare. As he ran for the bedroom door, just before the hit-man killed him, he heard his wife's voice for the last time.

"Oh, look!" she said in a voice that was half cry, half laughter, "An intruder!"