The moonlight casts the basement in an eerie glow. Back to the wall, I squat on the cement. The floorboards creak above, slow footsteps. A toilet flushes. I unbutton my jacket, flip my hair over my shoulders. Nothing to do but wait, wait, wait. 

Silence will come—it always does. I know these moments before a job well done. B & E, robbing the corner store, stealing cars in the rich side of town. 

Check, check, check. 

The clock strikes twelve. I pick my nails, bitten to the quick. My stomach is queasy. I’m no saint but tonight is different. Despair or desperation. A broken code, no happy endings. 

The house stills. Five minutes pass, then ten. I shoulder my go-bag and creep across the space. Fingering the safe’s dial, I recite three numbers I’ve known since I was a kid. 

Inside, stacks of cash, Gran’s wedding ring, Pop’s gun. When it comes to money, resistance is futile. Swallowing hard, I glance at the ceiling. Then grab it all. 

I dart through the side door, branches like clawing hands along the path. Born of the devil, mama said each time she opened her mouth to say something ugly.

Maybe she’s right.

When Punk Noir Magazine puts out a call for submissions, people around the world take note. Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Golds asked us to flex our muscles to write a story about BETRAYAL in under 200 words. All genres welcome. It was challenging to complete a story arc in so few words, yet it was a lot of fun. Thrilled this piece of flash fiction, Shades of Gray, was selected for the magazine’s May 2024 edition.