I awoke on my side, staring at my alarm clock. The red LED lights were declaring the fact that was 2:58 in the morning. In the second that the time registered in my mind, the LED’s rearranged and it became 2:59. I gradually became aware of the fact that I needed the bathroom and, inwardly groaning that I had to get out of my warm bed and walk to the bathroom, I tried to get up. I said try because that’s exactly what happe...

Jamestown Fort, January 1609 Sarah awoke in the dark. The first thing she noticed was the cold. It had seeped through the clothing she wore, through the blanket that she had wrapped herself in, through the very ground; reaching for her like the icy, cold fingers of death. She exhaled and watched her breath become visible in the grey, early light of dawn that crept through the cracks of the door. Immediately after the cold...

Suddenly, the warning of the tribal elder and Wasad’s explanation came rushing back to us. The entire, horrible truth came crashing down upon me in a rush. I realized that the body we had seen in the hole was indeed a ghoul. The images we had seen of the torture and execution were not an attempt by the Republican Guard to execute an innocent man, but an attempt to rid themselves of a scourge. We also came to the sickening...

Once packed, we had nothing else to do but hurry up and wait. Sam and I were conflicted about leaving. We felt that it was wrong that we were leaving Chris, but we had searched all over for him, the grunts had searched for him, but there was absolutely no trace. We kept hoping against hope that he would show up by random chance one day, but as the days went by and there was no Chris, we began to lose hope. Finally, the da...

At around 5 o'clock the next morning, I was awakened by Sam shaking my shoulder. “Dave, you need to get up,” he said. “What? What? Why? What's happening? What’s going on?” was my reply. “It's Chris,” Sam said. “He's missing; he's not here.” “What do you mean he’s missing,” I asked, sitting up. I wiped the sleep from my eyes, and I saw that Sam was speaking the truth. There was no sign of Chris. We hadn’t had any equipment...

Chris and I both groaned. We knew Sam was one to go a little bit too far, but this was too much. “That’s absolutely disgusting,” I said. “That used to be a person. That is so disrespectful. You’re unbelievable. How would you feel if someone pissed on you when you were dead?” “I wouldn’t care,” Sam called back over his shoulder as he finished up. “I’d be dead. Plus, I already told you this country and these people cost me...

Chris jumped in after Sam got out, and, on our signal, he mashed the accelerator down, and he was off. As we watched him race around the track, I considered asked Sam if he had felt uneasy in the warehouse like I had, but decided against it. Sam was a good friend, but he could be brutal and borderline cruel if you were acting, in his opinion, like anything other than a man. I turned my attention back to Chris as he raced...

The Ghoul The following happened about ten years ago. There are times that I still wake up in the middle of the night, sweating in the grips of a nightmare. When this occurs, I know that getting back to sleep will be a losing proposition, so I instead get up and make a pot of coffee. As time has passed, the nightmares have lessened, but like a virus, they have never truly left. I will have a good couple weeks, maybe even...

Brian reached to his left and opened the refrigerator. Bright light flooded the area around the floor in front of the open door. He reached in an extracted another beer can from the half empty case that was the lone occupant of the fridge. He cracked the top, then brought the can up to his lips and tilted his head back. He really didn’t swallow; he just sort of opened his throat and poured whatever he was drinking down. S...

I remember the barking and howling of the dogs. Not the average, neighborhood dog that barks at the mailman and has somehow gotten off of its chain, but wild, feral dogs. Never seen, only heard. Dark town and villages with no lights on anywhere; clouds in front of the moon making it so I literally cannot see my hand an inch in front of my face. The sand blowing in my nose and mouth, making breathing hard and smells imposs...

Fishing the Assunpink One of my favorite times of the year when I was younger was, no surprise, summer. School was out: I didn’t have to worry about homework, grades, or any projects for at least two glorious months. Since both of my parents worked, my parents had an arrangement with my maternal grandparents. My mother would drop my brother and me off at their house in the morning, then make the 10 minute commute to Merce...

The two firecrackers flew through the hot, dry air and exploded with almost simultaneous BANGS. The report echoed off of the surrounding woods and just as quickly as it came, it was gone again. Steven reached into the brown paper bag that lay at his feet, withdrawing another two M-80 firecrackers that he had bought when his family went to Myrtle Beach the previous summer. He handed one to his friend Rob and both boys used...