A single ring. A single sentence. And 24 hours to discover who chose the wrong man to threaten.
Prompt:
The phone vibrated in Juan Abrea’s hand like it already knew what was coming.
He stood on his porch, the Texas heat still clinging to the evening, listening as the caller repeated the words slowly—Go back to Mexico or die in 24 hours. Juan said nothing. Silence had always made people nervous. He slipped the phone into his pocket and closed the door, locking it with deliberate calm.
Juan wasn’t afraid. Fear had burned out of him years ago in places with no names and no mercy. He brewed coffee, set a timer for twenty-four hours, and opened an old footlocker in the hall closet. Inside were medals he never displayed, photographs he never showed, and skills he hoped he’d never need again.
The threat wasn’t random. It never was. Phones left on doorsteps carried fingerprints—digital ones too. Juan smiled thinly as screens lit up and data began to whisper. Somewhere, someone believed hate could protect them.
They were wrong.
Juan didn’t plan revenge. He planned education. Some lessons, he knew, only landed when delivered personally—and precisely on time
Writer’s question:
Will Juan expose his attacker publicly, confront them face-to-face, or let the clock run out in a way no one sees coming?