-Fingers of Truth

[Words to Image. Random picture, my interpretational vibe, random story]

Corbin betrayed his fellow man on a daily basis. Instead of standing on the decency of truth, he chose a world of fiction. Whatever he needed to say to whomever needed to hear it, for gain, favor, or impress, he was ruthless in his words. They were forked and calculated, piercing the trust he deceptively earned. Lies, lies, lies. He would create a dozen to cover up one that was in danger of being exposed. A normal soul hadn't the mental storage to maintain his level of deceit. But Corbin wasn't a normal man. He was blackened to his core.

Every night, he would retreat to his shadows and cry out. Each lie that he uttered that day would return to his mouth and manifest into a burning abyss that he was forced to swallow. It poured inwards and outwards, flowing like lava. Searing his lungs and melting away any resemblance of beauty he possessed on the outside. Always subsiding before death. The nights echoed with screams, but by morning he returned a new. But no matter the amount of pain he did suffer it was never enough to get him to stop. He had relied on the lie for so long that he had no identity. The face in the mirror held no resemblance to anything he was before. He didn't know who he was because he had lied himself away.

The morning air was tepid, and he had forgotten the agony from the night before, as always. Its coolness was at least better than what he had to swallow, the lesser or two heats. A tiny child, maybe 10, startled him as he turned hearing a noise, her. Corbin stared her down, but the child was unfazed.

"What are you doing out here in the dark?" he asked.

The child remained silent for a moment and then uttered, "You have four more and no more."

She had raised four fingers to the air and held them in place. Her words confused Corbin. He brushed it off as some silly little rhyme. He glanced around searching for someone older who might claim her. No one.

"Do you live around here? Where are your parents? Are you lost? Perhaps I can help you find them. I live close by, just down the block, a ways."

He did not, and somehow, she knew he had lied. She lowered one finger.

"You have three more and no more."

He thought her to be toying with him.

"Oh, really? And then what?" he asked.

She pulled her opposite hand index finger across her neckline, insinuating death.

"What? You messing with me? Why would you do that? You shouldn't mess around with a grown man like that. You might get hurt."

She was unfazed.

"Now, get on outta here. I've got important business to tend to."

She knew he had lied again and lowered another finger.

"You have two more and no more."

"I said, git! I've got no time for your games. I'm meeting someone and they should be here momentarily. So, just ... scurry on ... about yourself ... and ..."

She knew he had lied once more and let another finger drop.

"You have only one more and no more. If you choose to use a lie ... right where you stand is where you will die. Can you not feel the building heat ... as it warms up your gums and burns at your teeth? You have only one chance left ... tell the truth or I'll watch you burn to death."

Corbin was speechless. He felt the sting on his tongue as if he had eaten something spicy. It creeped and it burned as his eyes began to itch. All very familiar, as he had been here, nightly. But this time was more intense. This was beginning to become a bit too much. He felt the burn coming on. It intensified. Corbin stared at the single finger she held in the air, but his ego just couldn't back down. He had forgotten how to not tell a lie. Besides, what did she know? She was just a little girl. He leaned forward and whispered into her ear. In a fiery moment of arrogance, he was forced to swallow every single lie he had ever told. And they burned. His words had finally destroyed him. Corbin never lied again. The last finger dropped.

[Live by the lie, die by the lie]