The Dragon Tattoo

Charles Richard Laing

Artwork by S.R.Greenfield

 

From the neck down she could have been any woman. Then they rolled the body over, and I saw the small green dragon tattooed on her right shoulder. I knew then that my wife had been found. They brought the head they pulled out of the bushes and placed it on the ground above her shoulders. It was my Gloria, I told the detective in charge. She had been missing for days. Now she was found. Case closed.

Or so I thought.

That was before they found the three additional heads. This led to three more positive ID's. I didn't believe it. The body belonged to my Gloria. How could she possibly be Angie or Gwen or Taylor?

I went down to the police station looking for some answers. On my way inside I bumped into a hooker stumbling out into the night air. She had to be a hooker the way she looked. Heavy makeup. Teased out flame red hair. Knee-high boots. Denim Daisy Dukes and a violent purple tube top. I pushed away from her in disgust. As she walked away I looked back at her for some reason. That's when I saw the green dragon tattoo. The sight of it froze me for an instant, and by the time I could move again she was gone.

Some of the cops recognized me when I got inside, but they all seemed afraid to look at me. That's when I learned that my wife's body had vanished, along with one of the heads.

The redheaded one, naturally.

I've been tracking her ever since. I assume she's changed, so I've had to take some chances. I just tear at their clothes. That's all I do.

Don't look at me like that.

That's not why I do it.

I'm just trying to find my wife.

The End

 

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