The Aztec Priest’s Wife
“Darling, could you please pass the knife?”
“Of course, dear.” Millie handed the obsidian dagger to her husband Juan, who raised it over his head as he continued the incantation. She had always found it a bit theatrical but perhaps Xipe Totec liked theatrics.
The sacrifice stared up at her in terror. In the old days, the sacrifices often presented themselves willingly, even running to the top of the pyramid to meet Our Lord the Flayed One. Now, it was all she and her husband could do to carry the struggling victims up to the altar.
With a practiced thrust, Juan opened the boy’s chest, then reached in and removed the still-beating heart. Millie held out the ceremonial bowl and her husband placed the bleeding organ in it.
“Shall I get your sleeves, dear?” Millie asked.
“Oh, yes, thank you.”
She tied his sleeves back so they wouldn’t get in the way while he flayed the boy. When he finished, she folded the skin neatly and stored it in a large Tupperware.
All in all, another successful Tlacaxipehualiztli.
Tags: Micro fiction, Microfic
