The Only Remaining Sin by Carlotta Dale
from Seven Deadly Sins: A PUNK NOIR Magazine series
I’d been cast in The Devil Takes the Hindmost.
The play featured the seven deadly sins: a fat woman was Gluttony, a bosomy one was Lust, a droopy one, Sloth. The rest were men: Greed with a bay-window paunch, Envy a beanpole, Pride resembling a movie star.
I’d gotten the part because the Wrath from the Off-off-Broadway production had listened to the siren call of Hollywood. Now the show was moving to Off-Broadway, and they needed a replacement.
They hired me. They didn’t know who I was. I didn’t tell them.
Anger reigns supreme; the other sins are weak. Only Wrath is truly outward facing.
Envy, Pride, and Greed didn’t stand a chance. Well, none of them did, to be frank.
The script was stupid: overly intellectual, pretentious crap. That offended me, but I didn’t really care. The costumes were quasi-medieval. Mine was black, cod piece and all. Worked for me.
Carrying a scythe would have been a nice touch … Nah, too obvious. The whole production verged on camp, anyway. We weren’t going to make it to Off-Broadway. Not if I could help it.
I wondered who I’d kill first.
I was destined to be the last sin standing.
This story appears as part of Seven Deadly Sins, a PUNK NOIR Magazine series, originally published July 2025.
Bio
Carlotta Dale lives in L.A., a city she adores from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, in a house that’s essentially an oversized cabinet of curiosities. She’s had many jobs, including gigs as a ghost writer. She still uses adverbs — sparingly — and has only had one (!) piece of fiction published, by Punk Noir Magazine (!). If she gets a second outing, she’s going to feel like part of the family. She can be found on Twitter @carlottadale38 and on BlueSky @carlottadale.bsky.social.
PUNK NOIR, the online literary and arts magazine that looks at the world at its most askew, casting a bloodshot eye over the written word, film, music, television and more.
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I've never really thought about how each sin would be dressed up or presented in a play. Hehe. Very nice tale.