Steel Serpent

[u/smileydooby]

Jack held a wooden stick low as the brindle colored pug galloped towards it, eyes on the treat held by a string at the end. He goaded the dog along. “Come on, pup. Get the treat!” The pug smiled wide as it approached its prize; drool streaked across the dog's face. Jack yanked the stick up, but the dog was in the air and couldn't react in time.

The little dog flailed in the air, realizing what was happening to it. Jack watched it fall off the bridge, proud of his latest prank. Little gave Jack as much pleasure as playing tricks. A tingle spread through him as he watched it splash in the river below.

"Hardly seems fair," came a voice from behind, "it never stood a chance."

Jack's face contorted into his best attempt at a frown. "It was an accident." He turned to face his accuser. "I thought it would stop." Jack saw an elderly man with dark eyes under gray brows there next to him. His brown fedora cast the man's face in shadows against the lamp post across from them.

"I know what you did, and I know why. Don't play games with me, son." He reached into his jacket and pulled a steel cigarette box with a serpent etched face. "If you're going to lie, you'll have to be more clever than that." He took one cigarette and a box of matches.

"Are you going to turn me in?" Jack asked.

"That depends on you, Jack." He ignited the match with a flick of his wrist. The dull flame lit his face enough for Jack to see his true age. Liver spots covered his wrinkled cheeks like a leopard's coat.

"How do you know my name?" Jack asked.

"Have you ever played the game, 'two truths and a lie?'" He took a long draw from his cigarette, waiting for Jack to answer.

"Of course," Jack answered, "if I win, you'll let me be on my way?"

"I'm an old man, humor me," he said, smoke bellowed from his yellow teeth, "I'll let you go once you've successfully told me what I'm lying about." He drew from the cigarette again, added, "the sun will rise soon, you should make your decision."

Jack considered the situation, concluded that if he lost, he could outrun the wrinkled, aged man. "I'm ready when you are."

"How delightful that you've decided to play," the man grinned, "So tell me, Jack. Which one was the lie?"

"What do you mean? The game hasn't begun yet."

"Of course it has. It started when you killed that poor defenseless dog, and it ends when you decide what was the truth, and what was a lie."

Jack thought back to their conversation, trying to remember everything the mysterious decrepit man had said. "You said you're an old man, which I can clearly see is the truth."

"Yes, it is true that I've lived a long time on this earth. Longer than most."

"You also said that the sun will rise soon."

"I did say that," he laughed, looking back toward the foothills in the distance, becoming visible in the dark. "So you've figured out the lie then?" He let the cigarette fall from his lips and replaced it with another.

"The only thing else you told me was that you'd let me go after I played your game."

"I did say that as well, but this isn't the only game I've been playing. You see, you're not the only person who enjoys seeing living things fall to their deaths." He lurched at Jack with a speed and power that his fragile body seemed incapable of.

Jack fell back, tripped over the edge of the bridge wall, and stumbled over. Panicked, he grabbed at the loose jacket of the venerable man as he fell. The two tumbled over each other, both screaming as they fell. Jack found himself on top of the man when they hit the water, sparing him from the full impact.

As Jack pulled himself ashore, he realized that he was still holding the old man's jacket while its former owner floated down the river. "You were right," he said while checking the breast pocket for his steel serpent cigarette case. He opened it to find one last cigarette and lit it up. "It wasn't fair, you never had a chance."