Thursday, February 25, 2016

Cleave: A Six Sentence Story


Customers at the counter only knew him as the seemingly simple-minded man who swept the floors and took out the trash, but Rocco, Vittorio and the others in the shop knew Louie was much more than that.

Louie's methods were unorthodox, but effective, and when they were needed, as they were today, Rocco was always notified first; he would then open a door and raise his eyebrows at Vittorio, who was in the back room punching numbers into the adding machine.

Vittorio rose from his desk and walked casually toward the sound of Louie's broom brushing across the old floorboards; it would never do to startle Louie when he was focused on any task. The sweeping motions slowed to a stop, and Louie raised his face to Vittorio's, looking hopefully at him, and when Vittorio nodded slightly, it brought a spark to Louie's usually dull eyes as they slipped quietly into the back of the shop and got to work.

The cleaver was kept clean and sharp and locked away, and when Vittorio handed it to Louie, saying, "We need a Louie Special," Louie's big hands closed around the handle, and his eyes gleamed as he brought the blade down, neatly severing the head before continuing to strike with the sharp instrument.

It was all over in a matter of a few minutes, and by the time Mrs. Moretti reached the counter of the shop, Rocco already had the Louie Special neatly packaged and ready to place in her hands, greeting her with a cheerful, "Two pints of cole slaw for you, Mrs. Moretti, and never fresher!"



Linking up with Ivy at Uncharted for Six Sentence Stories with the prompt "cleave."





15 comments:

  1. FRIST!

    Ohhhh BRILLIANT :D You've really got a way of introducing a BRILLIANT twist with these :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. So creepy and so readable. Your love for the macabre is evident in your stories.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Val! It's better than the dirty version of Leave It To Beaver I originally thought of! :)

      Delete
    2. I can't imagine what you'd be thinking!

      Delete
  3. Heh. Good one. And I really thought you'd off someone with this prompt. :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Seeing how you're the one who mentioned 'Let it to Beaver', I couldn't help but recall a meme from the show that had incredible currency in the college dorm…."Ward? Don't you think you were a little hard on the Beaver last night?"*

    * actual line of dialogue from the show, that I will admit to watching…. as non-reruns!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It never occurred to me until this week that "Beaver Cleaver" was rather naughty.
      I watched re-runs....

      Delete
  5. An awesome Saturday morning smile generator you have written here! When we got to chopping heads I was quite certain this was going to a dark place, but in the end you wrapped it up beautifully, such fun to read! A lesson here too, we never know what hidden talents people have! 😊

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! And never underestimate a good cole slaw chef.

      Delete