Christopher Hitchens is Waterboarded.

WARNING: some people might find this disturbing.

In order that he might better understand the “interrogation technique” of waterboarding, Christopher Hitchens agreed to undergo the process…

The Fall.

For this month’s Idiosyncratica task, Mike set us the challenge of writing a drabble — a short story of exactly one hundred words. As someone who is accustomed to telling a story in more like 160,000 words, this was indeed a challenge. It was, however, one that I enjoyed and, even, learned something from, I believe.

And so, without further ado, my drabble. The Fall.

I watched my wife fall from the building opposite. Elegant and purposeful — just as I had hoped, just as I had planned.

This was hers, my note had said. Do you remember?

Sipping a drink, the balcony cold yet welcoming, I followed her progress, my daughter clinging to my leg, just as she had done when she’d been alive. Warm, vital and overflowing with promise.

You do remember, don’t you?

When they’d taken her body away, I found the pink ribbon where my wife had lain. The ribbon I had included with my note.

You should have been there.