The ninja kicks in a door, slays bad guys, kicks in a second, slays a few more.

Inside door three, it’s a room full of cats, a circus clown who smiles, honks a horn.

The ninja turns around slowly, removes his mask and says, “I gotta go back to school.”

Michael Marino hails from Santa Barbara, CA and received his MFA in Creative Writing – Fiction from Antioch University, Los Angeles. His short fiction has appeared in the Flint Hills Review and he has contributed as editor to Lunch Ticket, AULA’s literary journal.