A bartender walks into a joke.

“What’ll you have,” says the angel of death.

The bartender recognizes the line from a lifetime of jokes.

He slides a silver punchline into the chamber.

The blast reverberates, echoing hoots and dismissive laughter, but he’s on the wrong side of things this time.

Bob Thurber is the author of “Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel” and four collections of short fiction. Regarded as a master of Flash and Micro Fiction, his work has appeared in Esquire and other magazines, been anthologized 60 times, received a long list of of awards, and been utilized in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.