The Silk Target

“Why had I made her my target? Several reasons. For one, her dress fit her body as if someone poured silk from a bottle. Moulding to her in all the right places. It was annoying. Second, she could stand to lose a few things.

A server offered her a glass of Chardonnay, and she took it without thanks. I knew then I’d made the right choice. I hunted the server down—if you haven’t noticed, I’m not the kind of woman someone stops for—and asked for a Merlot. I had to repeat myself twice before he noticed me.

With wine finally in hand, I prowled the space. It was full of people pretending to know what the art was conveying.

‘This one speaks to me,’ the silk woman’s husband said to her while standing in front of a particularly ghastly painting. ‘It’s like a dream.’

‘More like a nightmare,’ the woman said.

Regrettably, this did elicit a laugh from me. I had a fleeting moment of doubt, yet persisted on.

I planted myself beside the couple, feigning interest in the artwork. After a deep breath I turned, pretended to trip on the hem of my dress, and spilled the wine across her pink silk. She was aghast of course, and I made the appropriate wails of apology. Her husband was quick to whisk her away, so I suppose he wasn’t completely useless.”

The officer sighs. “Miss, we really don’t need all the details, just your admittance to the theft of the jewelry and your signature on the statement.”

BIO: K.C. Selby is a fiction writer living in the Midwest with her husband and too many houseplants. Her short fiction has appeared in FlashFlood Journal, Killer Nashville Magazine, Blink-Ink, Flash Point Science Fiction, several anthologies, and more. She can be found at www.kcselbywriter.com.

Follow on Social

Literary Garage: Storytelling with grit, heart, and no off-ramp.

© 2025. All rights reserved.

Connect

Follow us on Substack for updates and news

Special Features Editor and Warrior God: Michael Downing