Sacrifice

by Geoffrey Hart

Previously published as: Hart, G. 2022. Sacrifice. In: Bag of Bones Press Bag of Bones—206-Word Stories anthology.

I hesitate at the temple’s outer door, breathe deep, then pass within. Only my family’s needs matter now.

In the antechamber, the Senior Accountant waits. He takes my badge without meeting my eyes, opens his ledger, records something, then places the badge in a drawer. He closes the ledger firmly. In an ornate glass container on his desk, his testicles float in red ink.

Next, I pass through the chamber of the MBAs, who wait, their eyes gleaming with secret knowledge forbidden to those like me. They anoint my brow with the holy oils that are their order’s special purview.

Last, I enter the High Priest’s inner sanctum, where final authority vests in those who survived the ruthless culling. I kneel as they taught me, and hold my necktie for the high priestess to take in her elegantly manicured hand. She draws it tight to steal my breath, and holy lust glows in her eyes as she turns to face the High Priest. From his rich robes, he draws the ceremonial knife, which gleams icy white in the cold light.

“We accept your sacrifice,” he intones the ritual words, then draws the knife across my throat.

As I fall, my last thoughts are of my family.

Author's note

This story was written for an anthology in which all stories had to be exactly 206 words long.

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