The Drive

The vibration of the rumble strip brought Susan's eyes back to the road.  She had been drifting again.  Three hours into the nine hour drive and she couldn't keep her focus for more than a few seconds at time.  The call had come after she was already laying down for the night.  She needed to come immediately, tomorrow might be too late.

It was now after 3:00 AM and each mile brought her closer to her daughter.  Lacey had been crossing the street, headed home from a sorority party, when the drunk ran her over, never stopping.  She was now connected to several machines.  Susan imagined the beeping and her mind began to wander.  Each imagined beep, brought a snippet of memory from Lacey's childhood.  A quick glimpse of pigtails trailing as she ran.  A tear sliding down her cheek, when her first date stood her up. The night they had sat up together crying, when the cat had been put to sleep.  Each memory replacing the last until the rumble strip again broke the spell.

It was a little after 9:00 AM, when Susan pulled into the parking lot of the University Hospital. Her mind screamed for her to run for the doors and to fly up the stairs, but her body just didn't respond.  She felt every one of her forty-three years as she gingerly walked to the information desk.  She was given a room number and a sad look.  She followed the signs, blind to the directions she was going, until she realized she had reached her door. As her eyes finally focused on where she was, she realized someone very near her was screaming. As the darkness came, the last thing she saw was the word "Morgue," stenciled above the door.

The Friends

Best of Friends

Josh and Nick are the best of friends. They love to laugh, both at and with each other.  They spend time outdoors and playing every sport under the sun.  The kids they go to school with seldom see them apart and no one else is close to either boy. Not that Josh and Nick want to be left alone.  The other children want nothing to do with them.  The boys hear the whispers and things said when no one knows they are listening.

It all started at the end of the previous school year.  Josh and Nick had been part of a large group of friends that always spent time together.  They all ate lunch together and played on the playground at recess.  One day, all of the other kids but Josh just quit speaking to Nick.  They wouldn't even acknowledge he was around.  Josh tried to keep the circle together, but no one else seemed to care.  So he made his choice and Nick came first.  

Now in late September, the leaves are beginning to change.  Its colder now and Nick seems sad to Josh.  They still laugh and play, but both boys feel like something is missing.  They both try to ask the other about it, but they stop when the tension becomes more than they can bear. 

            Nick misses two days of school and when he returns Josh can tell something has happened.  Nick won't hardly talk to him and looks at him like he isn't even there.  As the sun begins to fade into late afternoon, Nick sits down on one of the swings and just stares towards Josh and the building.

The deputy who drives through this corner of the county feels a little more sad each day he passes the burned out shell of the school.  Little Nick Cartwright, always sitting on the same swing, staring at place where all of his classmates died on the last day of school, the previous year.  Nick had been home sick and was the only one to survive.  The deputy turned his eyes back to the road and said a little prayer for Nick hoping he would realize its ok to be the one to survive, but knowing in his heart Nick just couldn't say goodbye.

The Dream

The Dream

The dream always began the same.  The heart pounding feeling of being watched along with a mild case of unease. She knew before she even moved that she would look over her left shoulder and the shadow would be there.  She didn't know why, but she never looked over her right shoulder, her subconscious seemed to choose her left without fail. As usual the shadow grew larger as she began to walk down the tree lined path.  She increased the tempo of her steps until their matched the quickening beat of her heart.  As the shadow descended upon her back she awoke, covered in sweat staring at the slowly swirling blades of her ceiling fan.  She glanced at the clock and noticed she had only slept for 20 minutes this time. The red numerals, 2:38, shone in the darkness reminding her that sleep would not come easy the rest of that night.  

She rose quickly from the bed and padded to the kitchen.  A quick drink and she would resume her battle with the sandman.  She filled her glass and gazed through the kitchen windows on the path that stretched from her back porch to the small copse of trees behind her house.  The light of the moon painted the path in silvers and grays that seemed to shimmer before her eyes.  She felt the first pull of sleep returning as she stared, trying to catch a glimpse of the water beyond the trees.  Finishing her water, she pulled her eyes from the night's beauty and made her way back to bed.  As she lay back down, her eyes beginning to droop, her eyes rested on the clock that shone, 2:18.

The dream began the same it always did.  The heart pounding feeling of being watched along with a mild case of unease. She knew before she even moved that she would look over her left shoulder and the shadow would be there.  As usual the shadow grew larger as she began to walk down the tree lined path.  She increased the tempo of her steps until their matched the quickening beat of her heart.  As the shadow descended upon her back she awoke, covered in sweat staring at the slowly swirling blades of her ceiling fan.  She glanced at the clock and noticed she had only slept for 20 minutes this time. The red numerals, 2:38, shone in the darkness and she thought she might like a glass of water.