Flash Fiction Contest Entry: Finally Catching Some Zs

He had not been expecting a letter-the pizza delivery man perhaps-but not a letter. But sure enough, standing there before him was the letter Z.

Fernando Gonzalez had never met Z before. In fact, he had never met any of the 26 letters of the alphabet. The numbers 6 and 9 had paid a visit back in '02 and he truly enjoyed their company, but no letter had ever come to his door... until tonight.

Fernando had been a go-getter, full of energy and always able to get by on just a few minutes of sleep. Some of his friends suspected that he had been into the nose-candy. They just couldn't imagine anyone being able to go, go, go the way Fernando could without at least a little help from pharmaceuticals.

Just last weekend, the guy everyone referred to as "Speedy Gonzalez" kept up a pace that left his buddies shaking their heads in wonderment. Fernando had started a party binge that began immediately after work Friday and continued non-stop until the wee hours of Monday morning. Amazingly, he still managed to arrive at work on time that morning, wide awake and ready to go.

As Fernando joined his friends for lunch that day in the cafeteria, Heinz glanced up at him and warned, "You'd better slow down and get some sleep. No one can keep up that kind of pace."

"I'll have plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead," Fernando laughed.

That was Fernando's favorite line. Anytime his friends would caution him about his manic lifestyle-and that was almost daily-Fernando would haul out the old "I'll have plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead" line. He'd laugh and the guys would all chuckle and shake their heads.

But in truth, Fernando's insomnia was no laughing matter. He had tried to sleep-he really had-but he would enjoy nothing more than a few moments of light dozing before finding himself wide awake. He learned to deal with it though and decided to just live his life at breakneck speed. He figured he did more living in a week than most people do in a year.

No matter how hard Fernando drove himself, he just couldn't run down. He was like the Energizer Bunny. But even he was beginning to wonder how long he could keep it up and he was starting to wish it would all end.

Then Fernando opened the door and everything changed.

"You've been waiting for me, haven't you?" Z asked.

"I... I don't know what you mean."

"It's time Fernando. It's time."

Stunned by how quickly Z lunged at him, Fernando stood flat-footed, his eyes bulging, his mouth hanging open but unable to speak. There was a sharp sensation-a mix of pain and pleasure. He could feel the warmth run down. At first Fernando thought he had peed his pants, but one glance down revealed the crimson-colored liquid pouring down his leg came from a gash in his belly. Fernando tried to pull away but Z held a vice-like grip.

Another thrust from Z and another sharp sensation. Now Fernando could feel his legs weakening, his world growing dark. He thought someone had dimmed the lights. Another thrust and Fernando felt warm fluid bubble in his mouth, then run down his chin. He gurgled as blood continued to pour from the three gaping holes in his abdomen. Fernando kept fighting the urge to just let it happen. He struggled, shaking his head, trying to stay conscious as Z continue to plunge his weapon into him over and over again. Giving in, Fernando could hold on no longer. Finally, complete darkness.

Letting go of Fernando, Z watched his bloody form drop to the floor in a loud, thundering thud.

His work complete, the last letter of the alphabet looked down at Fernando's still body, smiled and softly whispered, "Now you shall sleep, my friend. Now you shall sleep."