The “y” (Flash Fiction)

The cold dark office was not an inheritance of anybody, yet Mr. Mike inherited an old used notebook from a staff member who was supposed to work there, yet never joined. There was a riddle on the last page of the notebook, the riddle belonged to Victor, who created it and held the key. Victor was the master of the riddle even though Mike had the notebook. Mike’s lethargic eyes were rejuvenated the moment he saw the riddle, Mike wanted to solve it the way he wanted. Yet Victor had the key to it.

Young Victor with two strands of grey beard stood like a watch tower imprisoning the riddle. Mike thought to put all the x’s and y’s in the puzzle in his own way, each time Mike had a wish, it got crushed by the whims of Victor. Mike was unhappy, the way x’s and y’s were scattered all over the page, and longed for a chance to have a hand over it.

One day, Mike saw Victor frozen to the last page of the notebook. He was reciting, “x”, “x’, “x “…. The key is near the “x”. Mike thought the answer to the riddle was in x’s then he saw Juliet coming in. With a wide mouth and a set of protruding teeth, he exclaimed to her, “finally, I found the key to the riddle, it’s in “x “.” Juliet grinned, and said Victor already told her the answer lies in “y” and it would be so as Victor is the master of the riddle. Mike was in disbelief, then he saw Victor ripping the riddle page into eighty one pieces, while he threw all the pieces in trash, the lone piece with a “y” on it remained.