Dead Stars Become Black Holes

Part 3 of this flash fiction series “Dead Stars Become Black Holes” uses the prompt “this will ruin everything,” as given to me by Aspasía S. Bissas.

Part 1: Sequins, Stardust, and Rust

Part 2: From a Rainbow to a Tragedy

If you’d like to provide a prompt for a future installment, please add one in the comments.

“Dead stars become black holes,” Joe said throwing a bunch of keys at Kenny. A black hole to the tune of $10 million to be specific. A contract that would not be honored.

“This will ruin everything,” Kenny said as he opened the doors to Johnny’s mansion. It was the day after the funeral, the record company could not wait for the wake to settle.

The mission: find anything before the record company. Demos, drugs, the existence of some well concealed fetish.

In life, he had been a shining light. In death, he might be a black dwarf hiding in the cosmos. A stellar remnant who will live on in countless reissues and memorial concerts, tribute bands, and bad cover versions.

But now it was down to his band mates to bury the facts, hide the lies, and rewrite the truth. He was never the dazzling star that the world knew. The illusion had to stay just that.

Wading through feather boas, they found the evidence they needed to remove. The stellar remnant of a star’s life that nobody would want in their closet was quite literally the skeleton in Johnny’s.

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay