Cold by Ian Ayris

At Pulp Metal, Ian Ayris delivers a powerful piece of short fiction, Cold.

This is the kind of story where describing what happens misses the point entirely. Ayris is writing about the core of life and death (and crime) and a character's single, compelling decision.

Even that sounds corny--which this piece is certainly not. To be honest, I don't really know how to approach this one.

But AJ Hayes does, and this is what he wrote in the comments section:

Usually in noir you’re rooting for the big reveal. In this case though you’re cringing away and thinking “No. C’mon please make it something else. Something that will finally free that poor guys soul. But no, Ian won’t flinch. Won’t back away and say, “Oh higgeltie, piggeltie, I fooled you. It’s all a great joke on you. Everything’s all right. ’twasn’t what you thought at all. Even dour Da’s okay. There there.” No, Ian just rips your heart out, shows it to you and leaves you all alone in the scary dark. True horror is never asked for. It just happens. Moving, Ian. Very moving indeed.

 Good job, AJ! I concur.