I was not always been mad

Flash Fiction by the Prompt https://substack.com/@feastsandfables

I was not always been mad, I grew into it. When I was a small boy I was serious because even then I knew I wanted to be a Doctor. Study study hapbulump.

Then one day, while bandaging limbs at the aid station a new clean jeep drove up out of the distance. The driver said to me. “My boss wants you to ride with me.”

“Who is your boss?”

“You will see.”

So I cleaned my hands and got in.

His boss was PFL Odwana.

We I first entered the room he stood up and said: “I hear you are the best physician in my country. You will work for me.”

So, not having any choice, I did.

I am part of the retinue: most of which are armed guards with machetes.

I learned the cycle of a week. On Wednesday from 13:00 hours, there is one slot that now is now funny: “Leave one thing behind.”

Everyone knows what that one thing is.

So I watch as they plead and weep. But no one comes out, for they have left one thing behind.

It is funny. I know it is funny. I just don’t understand the joke.