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Indeed a fantastic piece. However I feel differently about the impact of Ken's presence. His absence and the sense of mystery it elicits and indeed his appearance at the end albeit dead, makes the piece even richer, leaving the reader pondering and speculating, waiting for a sequel, if at all there would be.

It's a short story with a minimum word count. So minimal characters had to appear and Ken was...

Filtered out.
I know that feeling. I've done something similar on some of my stories.

Yep. But @smyles is right. Ken's absence added the mystery i wanted. I never wanted him fully in the story. He deserves it sef