Together with this mail

"If you’re willing to pay the price, anything is possible."

The man in the hat, who was finally willing to talk to me, looked at me intently.
I nodded; what did I care about those few gold coins?

“And no funny business.”

I nodded again as a faint smile played around my mouth. I’d been waiting a long time for this day. He shifted his hand slightly and tapped the tabletop with a finger. I didn’t bat an eyelid; after all, someone who’s been through it all and has one foot in the grave has nothing to lose. The severed hand was meant to be a warning to defaulters, swindlers and thieves.
Without hesitation or blushing, I slid the suitcase towards him.

“Here you are; feel free to count it over, I’ve got all the time in the world…”

That time is, in fact, eternity. At last, someone was willing to lend a hand. The afterlife called out, screamed, whispered.

“Do it quickly.”

This time he nodded and pulled the whole thing towards him, stood up and left with the payment. The fingers of the black hand left behind pointed at me. I wondered how long it would take for the constable to turn up after the third shot was fired. It was eerily quiet; even the birds had stopped their chirping. A fine day to die, I thought. The sun is actually shining.

I tapped away on my phone; together with this mail, a photo of the job done would be sent.

Our eyes met as we lay pressed against each other. It was well worth the money.
At last we could start our life together. Words weren’t needed; we were one and the same.

“See you in a bit,” he whispered.

The final shot put an end to the suffering, and as we walked hand in hand, we both breathed a sigh of relief at the same moment. The email that was supposed to explain everything was now meaningless. We had left that world behind us.

_{Prompt: see title
6-7-2026}