Who Would You Kill?

A friendly conversation between John and Jessica. A scene cut from my novel, 'A Step Over the Edge':


“Can he come?” she asked, holding me around my arm.

He shook his head and laughed, “Are you kidding me? It’s just you baby.”

I bit my lip, knowing that if he went any further that nothing was stopping me from destroying him. He didn’t have a gun or anything but the public display wouldn't be worth it.

“Sorry, us, or nothing.” she answered.

“Suit yourself.” he said, walking away thinking nothing of the situation.

We stood there, waiting for what felt like forever. I looked over at Jessica and noticed many other guys sneaking peeks at my treasure. Although it annoyed me, I found their interest in her flattering. I looked over at her and she stood close, resting her head on my shoulder. “Jessica,” I said, “if you could go back in time and kill anyone, who would it be?”

“That’s a good question.” she replied while twisting her fingered through her hair. She thought about it and answered, “If I killed the wrong person it could destroy the world. Imagine if I messed up the events of the bible, killed some president before her ever got the chance to become president – I could even stop the holocaust and prevent Hitler from butchering mass amounts of people.

“So who would you pick? It can only be one person.”

“I think I’d kill Shakespeare. Why not destroy who most people praise as the god of literature? I don’t get it, Shakespeare? Why would anybody want to waste their time reading some lame play that isn’t even that great? I guess beauty lies within the eye of the beholder, but I would be curious to see how things evolve without his literary influence.”

“Yeah, Shakespeare’s a good choice. You're genius.”