“Playing the Part” by Jonathan McKenney is a captivating fiction piece that left me with chills. Vivid descriptions of setting and emotion, combined with the second person point-of-view, make you feel as if you were dropped right into the scene. The whole thing can't take more than a few minutes, but the slow pace caused by the narrator's (well, your) racing thoughts makes this short piece quite intense.

For one thing, it certainly leaves a lot up to the imagination. It begins with you walking into a room, pretending to be a visitor to a sick girl, named Jennifer. You seem to know her, but, then again, you might just be playing the part, as the title suggests. You have been in many situations like this before, that much is certain. Jennifer is coughing up blood and reveals to you the hideous, infected bite that causes her suffering. You have seen it multiple times before. After deciding you shouldn't waste any time with chitchat, you pull out your gun and shoot her. That's your job, after all.

Even after I finished reading, I found myself staring at the page, wondering what it could all mean. What is this frightening infection that is spreading quickly? And who are the people who, like you, are employed to murder the infected ones? Most hauntingly, why do they do it? What terrible things are they trying to prevent by killing the diseased as quickly as possible?

This frightening thriller was a fantastic example of flash fiction. A lot of mystery and horror is packed into the half-page story, and I was impressed by how intrigued it left me.