I decide who lives or dies

            I decide who lives or dies. I decide who lives or dies.

            It throbbed in his head. It throbbed in his sleep. The weight. The responsibility. Once it had been power, intoxicating. The power of another person’s life or death, held in his hands. Mr. Raines had given him power. To hate was power. To hold a gun to another’s head and decide whether he lived or died was power. The power had become weight. I decide who lives or dies. For every person who passed, he had to decide.

            It was a weight he was ready to give up.