The Cheater - A Tale of Harris Burdick

Thirty years ago a man visited Peter Wenders' office, a children's book publishing business, introducing himself as Harris Burdick. Mr. Burdick explained that he had written fourteen stories and had drawn many pictures for each one. He'd brought with him just one drawing from each story, to see if Wenders liked his work.
Peter Wenders was fascinated by the drawings. He told Burdick he would like to read the stories that went with them as soon as possible. The artist agreed to bring the stories the next morning. He left the fourteen drawings with Wenders. But he did not return the next day. Or the day after that. Harris Burdick was never heard from again. Over the years, Wenders tried to find out who Burdick was and what had happened to him, but he discovered nothing. To this day, Harris Burdick remains a complete mystery.
Now people use Burdick's illustrations to create their own stories. This short story was an assignment in my college English class. We were told to write a story on one or more of the fourteen illustrations. I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try to write something dark and thrilling. The day this was due I had to read it out loud to my class; my classmates and friends were shocked that I was able to write something so grim, especially since I'm normally positive.

COMPLETED
****May contain violence not suitable for a person under the age of 13. No sexual violence, just a scene of gory violence.