Sigh, "You know what, this just sucks." "It is what it is, Zane, no need to get upset." "Yeah, but, ya know... that happened, man." "Let it go, it'll all be fine, everything will be fine." They looked at the situation they and their friends are in, there's only one way to describe it, they all noticed it, but are too afraid to speak on the subject, don't even want to think about it, for a mere thought will shut it all dow...

Was it paranoia? Perhaps it was, as the train pulled away from the station which was a three-minute walk from Frazier Street maternity hospital, with the little bundle of joy she cradled, sat looking out of the window. Was she being observed? Somebody had been following her she was sure. A man who looked like he slept on the streets. A scruffy individual of no fixed abode. She didn’t like to stare straight at him. In fact...

He watched as the blood ran its small river, falling off her chin to cascade onto her chest as the gentle rise and fall of her bosom ceased. This was not what he expected. This was not how this day was supposed to end. Ben stepped into the bright sunshine of the day. Many of the other students were running past him as they left; some bumping into him, none of them apologized. They irritated him. Some would holler, “Hey Do...

As soon as he entered the kitchen, Detective Inspector Tate knew that this had to be the same perp. Cupboards were thrown open and their contents scattered mercilessly about. His feet crunched on Cornflakes and Rice Crispies as he walked. A box, its innards ripped apart and surrounded by Cocoa-Pops, lay on the counter. On the table, another box, Shreddies, battered and torn, a sticky white fluid soaking into the jagged ca...

Telephone poles whipped past her, each separate in her headlights but blurred and indistinct. The girl was traveling north. She drove the speed limit along the two-lane federal highway. Into the night she drove once more. Alone, heading towards the big city. The highway stretched out ahead and ghostly phantoms of imaginary treelines wavered in her peripheral vision alongside her route. Occasionally porch lights shone out...

Julianna   December 18, 2012– Just after midnight   I sat tucked into the small window seat of my bedroom and burrowed under the blanket, savoring the warmth it gave me. With the lights off, the flurries of snow could just be seen in the dark. The weather forecast had called for a snowfall on my birthday, but I hadn’t gotten my hopes up. Therefore, it was a pleasant surprise as the antique grandfather clock downstairs her...

Lily jerked awake, barely registering the chorus of the song playing on the radio, and the white noise sounds cars made while on the move. She was dreaming about running through the forest. Something was chasing her, and she was all alone. She shook it off and looked around to familiarize herself with the here and now. Next to her in the driver's seat was her Dad. His familiar bearded profile brought her no comfort. Then...

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...

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...

Slow she walks, with her eyes closed, into the darkness. She doesn't need eyes to see, ears to hear or senses to sense, what dangers lie ahead. Here walks a focused girl, in a straight path, numb to distraction or the people around her.  Straight she walks, to her path of destiny, drawn to it like a magnet. She's a fragile juggernaut, but nothing can stop her. Like a fly attracted to a zapper, drawn to the light. She skip...