The Hand Job

by Rip Peterson

Table of Contents

He looked shocked then hurriedly pulled an item off the endcap and left.

I wouldn’t have thought much of it but the endcap was for feminine products.

I didn’t really think it was about my “super power” at all. It hadn’t been used since the night I won’t speak about it.

I also thought it may have been IRS agents. Maybe I was doing something wrong on my taxes or something like that. But that would have been H&R Block’s fault, not mine. All I did was import my W-2.

I was paranoid but sane enough not to ask anyone if they noticed the men in black with sunglasses. I didn’t want to seem crazy. I was also half- hoping that someone else would bring them up.

But a funny thing happened.

I stopped seeing them.

And I didn’t notice at first that they were no longer around.

So I definitely wasn’t living in the Matrix, under an IRS audit or a human-alien hybrid. Everything was back to normal.

But as you can tell from all the foreshadowing I’ve been doing. Normal didn’t last. Not by a long shot.

It was probably a month after I had seen the last agent or whatever when everything changed.

I didn’t know it was them at first.

I left work and someone came up from behind me and put a hood over my head.

Then I was thrown into what I presume was a van. It definitely wasn’t a Chevette. That much I can tell you.

Everyone was silent at first. So I’m not sure how long I was in the van. I wasn’t sure how many kidnappers there were.