Tick,

tick,

tick.

The clock in office reminds me again of what the prime minister had told me:

“A lot can happen in sixty seconds.”

Agreements reached, alliances formed, wars started and ended. 

Our world’s destiny is decided in moments such as these: A marble nudged into an adjacent groove on the infinite board of possibility, its path forever altered…

Beep beep beep!

The sound of my watch rouses me from my thoughts. I peel myself off my chair, pick up my handbag and coat, and head to the office next door.

“Honey, we need to go now,” I tell my husband as I walk into his room.

“Okay, let me just finish this letter.”

***

Drip… 

Drip… 

Drip… 

“Indeed, a lot can happen in sixty seconds.” I think as I wrap my husband’s limp hand around the pistol and let it drop to the floor.

I open my phone, and when the static clears, I speak:

“The prime minister is gone.”