Do Not Push
By Franklin Murdock

All his life, he’d aspired to be an Agent.  It was a dream he’d built his life around: honed his skills, tempered his body, readied his mind.  Eventually he’d been tested and passed with ease.  Now he was an Agent.  Now he could do Good Things.
Years had passed as they are wont to do and yet he still loved what he did.  His dream hadn’t grown stagnant nor had he grown cynical.  He still loved it all... save one thing.
The red button.
Beyond the maze of cubicles around him was a small table in the northern-most corner of the office.  In the center of this table was a red button crowned by a sign that read DO NOT PUSH in letters of the same hue.  Since day one, the button and its sign had intrigued him, called out to him.
So came the day he challenged it.
Another test, he’d often think.  They’re always testing me.  That same thought crossed his mind as he set aside his paperwork and slid his chair out from his desk.  He walked slowly.
Just before he reached the table and its forbidden button, a sudden stabbing pain tore through his lower back and then another through his right leg, just above the knee.  He fell to his side, screaming.
“The sign says ‘DO NOT PUSH’!” a hoarse voice said behind him.
He could only see in shades of red.  He felt sticky and cold and coughed wildly.  His body was floating away from him.
“But, I...” he said, lying face-up on the ground. “I didn’t.”
“But you were thinking about it.”
The third and final bullet passed through his skull just as that last word hit his ears.  “It” became BANG! in an instant.  Darkness -- red to crimson to black -- was his last thought.
His seat, still warm, was filled by noon.


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Franklin Murdock is a regionally published author who specializes in dark fiction, namely horror and suspense.