Table of Contents:

In my dreams

Hockey Rink

Twas the Night Before…

Paris and the Blue Dolphin Statue

Miami Beach

The Second Bar

The Philatelist

Raindrops

La Dame Blanche

So I heard…

The Hairbrush

Treehouse, Crack-Pipe, David Bowie

Wishes

Quite Contrary

Crazy Train

Ribs and Sauce

Zeb

Encounter

Silent Observer

Kiss and Kill

Aunio

The Light of Day

Five Little Monkeys

Alternative Rock and High Tops

In my Dreams

“It always begins the same way, as I lay my head upon my pillow and drift away. It starts out softly boom, boom, boom, tick, tick, tick… over and over again. I slowly make my way towards the sound, as it grows ever so slightly louder Boom, Boom, Boom, Tick, Tick, Tick… my bare feet moving along the smooth cold metal that lines the ground. The light is dim, I can’t see very far in front of me, I’m being pulled towards the sound...and it’s getting louder. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, TICK, TICK, TICK...I can feel the sound now pulsing through my body, as I come to a metal door. I open the door, my eyes adjust to the bright light coming from a large steam engine shaped like a heart. The sound is almost deafening now as I approach the beating heart. I reach out to touch it and that’s when...I feel a sharp pain in my chest and I awaken.” Katie said finishing her account and looking over at Dr. Mary Stine and Dr. Christopher Van Allen. “Well that’s quite the dream.” Says Dr. Stine.

Hockey Rink

“Just look at it,” Francoise said finishing off his can of Coors Light, smashing it and tossing it into the recycling bin.

“Smooth as glass, can you smell that? The crispness of the ice,”

“I agree that it’s a thing of beauty, but are you serious about the smell?” Jesse asked.

“Wait, are you telling us you’ve never smelled the ice?” Bradley chimed in grabbing another Coors Light and popping the top.

“I guess not,”

“Well then get out there and smell the ice,” Francoise said opening the gate.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, go out to the center, get on your knees, get your face down right next to the ice and smell it,” Francoise explained giving Jesse a push out onto the rink.

He slid a bit being in his street shoes but he slowly made his way out to the center of the rink and dropped to his knees.

“Go ahead Jesse, breathe it in,” Bradley said trying to sound sincere.

Jesse leaned down towards the ice and took a deep breath.

Behind him he could hear Francoise and Bradley erupt in laughter.

Jesse shook his head, he was the new guy on the team and he took this moment to plan his revenge.

Twas the Night Before

Twas the night before Christmas and all thru Grace's apartment, not a creature was stirring, not even the mouse that lived beneath the kitchen sink. There were no stockings hung, just a lonely strand of colored lights that twinkled sometimes. All of a sudden there was a crash, Grace was jolted awake torn from her sugar coated dreams.

“What the fuck was that?” she asked the room.

She arose from her bed and wandered with a baseball bat in hand towards the kitchen. She flipped on the light and there standing before her was Santa. Dressed in his unmistakable red and white suit, with black boots.

“Santa?” Grace asked putting the bat down.

“Grace, sorry about the noise. I had a little rum last stop,”

“Can I make you some coffee?”

“Sure, that would be nice,” Santa took a seat at the kitchen table while Grace started the coffee.

“I see your still a naughty girl,”

Grace smiled at Santa as she set a cup of freshly brewed coffee down before him.

“I suppose I still am a little naughty,” Grace pulled out a chair and sat facing Santa.

She ran her hand along his leg as he sipped his coffee.

“Oh, Grace,” he closed his eyes and sat back in the chair.

Grace dropped to her knees and took out his cock. She ran her hand up and down, making him stiffen. She gave it a lick across the tip, then into her mouth it slid. He let out a moan as she started to suck.

“Fuck, Grace,” he yelled as his cum hit the back of her throat and she swallowed.

Grace got to her feet, wiping her mouth, and gave him a kiss.

“Merry Christmas,”

Paris and the Blue Dolphin Statue

Fall 1992

The year after Karen Goodbar finished grad school, she took a position as an art conservator in Paris. She had been looking for unique statues to add to her exhibit at the Musée d'Orsay.

On a Sunday morning in a Parisian la brocantes Karen wandered through the merchants, enjoying the crisp air, and sweet scent of vanilla crepes. She stopped at a merchant's table, that was full of porcelain dolls, music boxes and other nick nacks. As she glanced over the tables contents she passed a bronze statue of a dolphin. On a second pass her eyes went back to the statue, she gestured towards the merchant to let him know she was going to pick it up. He nodded towards her giving her a smile.

She picked up the statue and looked it over, there was a warm golden hue to the bronze with a greyish blue patina that ran from the base up the dolphin’s back. Turning it over carefully in her hand she looked at the makers mark on the bottom. Two letters and a year, R. N. 1889, she ran her finger over the mark.

“Combien?” she asked the merchant.

“Vingt euro,”

Karen handed him the money, opened her bag and wrapped her scarf around the bronze statue, placing it into her bag.

After verification of the makers mark and a soft cleaning of the bronze statue making sure not to disturb the natural patina it was set on display.

Dolphin in Bronze 1889

Renie Nouvel 1869-1913 a French sculptor and artist specialising in bronze

A rare find Renie Nouvel’s Dolphin in Bronze 1889 was feared to be lost along with his other works when his workshop burned down in 1901.

Miami Beach

June 22nd 1982

Miami Beach, Florida

Sears, Mall of the Americas

1:42 am

“What is with all the pastels?” Chole asked as they made their way through the men's department.

“I like to think of the 80’s as the pre-adolescent of american pop culture. Followed by the angry teen of the 90’s and the self entitled young adult of the 2000’s.” Micha answered as they moved through the department store.

“It should be this way.” Micha said as he headed towards the shipping and receiving area. Chole glanced at her arm band, the red dot started beeping faster.

As they found their way downstairs past the boiler room and into the dark underbelly of the mall, there was as sound. The sound of heavy breathing.

“Make sure that’s loaded.” Micha said to Chole pointing at her weapon, she double checked that the silver bullet was loaded and ready.

“Check.” She said as her arm band began chirping loudly. It came at them at a full run, panting and growling as it charged.

“Fire!” Yelled Micha. Chole pulled the trigger the silver bullet went flying and struck the beast square in the chest. It slammed into Chole knocking her to the ground, as it let out a horrifying scream.

Micha rushed over to them, pulling the beast off of her, and helping her back to her feet. “You good?”

“I think so.” She said looking herself over to see if she had been injured at all. Chole checked her arm band, the screen was cracked and the little red light was no longer blinking. “Oh no.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I am afraid we might be stuck here.” She said holding up her wrist to show the broken transporter.

The Second Bar

Ok quick explanation, this short piece is inspired by the lyrics from Set Fire To The Third Bar by Snow Patrol, when it was pointed out to me that they mention the first and third bar but not the second. So there you go on with The Second Bar.

Lucy entered the bar on 2nd street looking for him. The guy she had gotten a glance of at the last bar over off of 1st avenue. She was determined to find out his name.

Lucy took a seat at the bar.

“What can I get you?” the bartender asked.

“Scotch on the rocks,” she answered, the bartender grabbed a glass, dropped a few cubes into it and poured.

“Thanks,” she said as he set it in front of her.

She took a sip of the Scotch as she scanned the bar for him.

As she finished off her drink she spotted him, over in the far corner nursing a beer. She asked the bartender for two beers and headed over to the table tucked away in the corner.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked the good looking guy with dark eyes.

He gave her a sideways look.

“Sure, do I know you from somewhere?”

Lucy sat the beers down and took a seat.

“I was over on 1st avenue, till the fight broke out,” she said taking a sip of her beer.

“Yeah, that was kinda crazy, what do you think of this place?”

Lucy looked around it was stuffy and crowded.

“Not really my scene,”

“So do you have a name?” he asked her. She grinned and put out her hand.

“Lucy, and you are?” He took her hand giving it a quick shake.

“Aaron,” he gave her a smile.

They sat there sipping on their beers, watching the others socialize. Aaron slid his hand along Lucy’s thigh. She closed her eyes for a second and when she opened them he leaned over and kissed her lightly on the neck. She let out a slight moan and he moved his hands up to her waist, he pulled her into him and kissed her on the lips. She took a breath and kissed him back, running her hand along the back of his neck.

“I know a place on 3rd,” he said.

Lucy gave him a smile and kissed him again.

The Philatelist

Marion looked at the yellow sticky note that she had scribbled the address on, The Pirates Booty 1435 West Highline Drive.

“Guess this is it,” she mumbled to herself as she entered the pirate themed bar.

The bar was lit by lanterns dangling from ropes hung from the ceiling, wooden stools lined the distressed looking bar. Marion took a seat at the bar, taking in the cargo nets, hammocks and skulls lining the walls.

“What can I get ya?” a pretty lady with a pirate’s hat on asked.

“Scotch and soda on the rocks, thanks,”

Marion read over the email she had received a few weeks earlier.

Mrs. Marion DuBois

I have come in position of something you may be interested in, from the estate of Mr. Stephen Hollings.

Marion finished off her drink.

“Mrs. DuBois?” a soft spoken male voice asked from behind her.

“Yes,” she answered as she turned to face the timid looking man.

“Thank you for meeting with me, shall we take a booth?” he asked as he shifted a long thin black box in his arms.

Marion pointed towards the far wall as she slid off the bar stool.

“So what do you have to show me? Mister?”

“Stall, Aaron Stall,” he extended his hand towards her, she shook it.

“As you are well aware, Mr. Hollings was an avid collector of rare items, one of passions was in stamp collecting,”

“Being a philatelist, I am aware of Mr. Hollings rumored collection,”

“It’s no rumor,” Aaron said as he slid the thin, long black box towards her.

Marion raised an eyebrow.

“What’s in the box?”

“Take a look,”

She carefully slid the lid off of the box, it held a collection of glass-mounted Kodachrome slides.

“Ok,” she said.

“Look at them,”

She took one out holding it by the sides with her fingers, she held it up towards the light.

“Oh my God,” she picked up another one and examined it closely. She choose a third slide.

“No fucking way,” she said, realising that her voice was a bit louder than she meant it to be.

“Do you know what this is? This one right here, this is an Inverted Jenny,”

Aaron gave her a smile.

“Mr. Hollings collection is quite extensive,”

Marion put the slides back into the box and closed the lid.

“If these are the insurance photos for the collection, where is the physical collection?”

“They are held in a security deposit box, now being that I am executor of Mr. Hollings estate I am giving you first bid on the collection,”

Marion sat back and motioned for the waitress.

“I think we need a drink,” she gave Aaron a smile.

Raindrops

Amber sat behind the wheel of her 97’ Honda Civic, the fat heavy raindrops plopped down on her windshield. She had barely gotten the groceries into the car, before the rain started. She sat in the parking lot of the Everyday Foods Grocery store watching the rain splatter across her windshield.

What if we could go back.She thought to herself.

Back to a pivotal moment, one of those moments when the choices made would affect not only my future but the futures of others in our lives.

Why did I go? Out of curiosity, loyalty or for the thrill.

Why did you come? Out of lust, need or want?

I guess the why doesn't matter as much as the actions taken by both of us to be there at the same time in the same place. I feel that you risked more than I did. You had to lie to someone that you took vows with. All I did was show up. Which took a lot for me to even do. I stopped and thought over my actions, why am I doing this? Even when I got there I stalled, thought it over. Played out unrealistic scenarios in my mind.

But I showed up with a knot of guilt in my stomach. Why am I here in a Motel room with someone else's husband. I have a solid long lasting relationship of my own.

Why did I come? How did I allow myself to be talked into being here. How do I go back and undo what has been done? Is there any going back, or just moving on, going forward. Forgetting about it, but learning from it.

Nothing happened, I showed up we talked, it was weird and uncomfortable. The knot of guilt kept getting heavier in the pit of my stomach. My hands shook, my voice cracked.

Why did I go? For the thrill, there’s no thrill in this, this being here in a strange room with you is agonizing.

I keep thinking that I should be home doing the laundry or dishes. Not in a Motel room with somebody else's husband.

Did you have guilt? Were you aware of the damage that you could have done to the others in your life? Would you have regretted it? If something had happened and she found out, would she forgive you? Or punish you?

How did I let it get to this point? I didn’t want to be there, so why was I?

Amber shook her head, turned the key, flipped on the windshield wipers and drove home.

On my knees in front of you, you stroke your cock. Your so hard, I run my tongue over the tip. Slip my lips around you, taking you into my mouth, sucking you, tasting you.

You run your fingers through my hair as I bob up and down on your cock. Sliding you out and then plunging my mouth back down. I want you to cum, fill my mouth let me taste you, feel you explode in my mouth so that I can swallow your load.

La Dame Blanche

The soft silk gown gave off an iridescent shine, like a fresh picked pearl still wet from the sea. Making her way down the cobbled streets, her bare feet gliding along the smooth, cool stones. Moonlight peeked through the dark cloudy sky. A gust of wind blew her dark curls back from her porcelain skin. Stopping in front of a simple cottage as the church bells rang out the stroke of midnight. A lantern was lit and Mr. Burks opened the door, moving to the side, allowing her to enter.

Mr. Allen Burks was a working man of 35, his wife Jenny lay asleep upstairs, lost in her own dreamland of white stallions and broad shouldered young men. Allen placed the lantern on the kitchen table and stood in front of her, he gently ran his hand along her shoulder and down her arm. He gazed into her green eyes as he lowered himself down in front of her. He moved her silk gown up to her waist as she leaned against the kitchen table. He buried himself in between her soft, warm thighs. Indulging in her taste. She closed her eyes, letting her head fall back and enjoyed his tonguing.

Allen moved up her body, taking down his trousers, he kissed her deeply as he slid inside her. Fill me… She whispered into his ear as he thrusted deep into her. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek as she left.

As the church bells rang out in the cool autumn night, she stood before another cottage. Mr. Lee Thomas lit a lantern and opened the door. Lee was a strapping young man of 23 he lived alone, and had been awaiting her arrival. He took a seat on a wooden kitchen chair. She knelt down in front of him. She relieved him of his trousers, taking his throbbing cock into her mouth. He let out a groan as she sucked. As soon as she could taste him, she stood up, pulled up her gown, straddled his hips and slid him into her. Feel me… She moaned into his ear, as she moved her hips back and forth against him. He grabbed the back of her head, filling his fist with her dark curls, and kissing her deeply. She let out a moan as she came. He stood up and laid her across the table, thrusting into her, coming deep in her. She kissed him lightly on the cheek as she left.

The clouds had parted and the moonlight covered the ground as she made her way to the last cottage. The church bells rang out once again as she waited for Mr. Richard Martin to light his lantern. Richard an older gentleman of 50, widowed only a few months prior, opened the door for her. He took her hand and led her upstairs to his bed. Richard removed her gown and laid her on the bed. He disrobed and joined her.

He kissed her gently, making his way down her neck, across her collarbone and to her breasts. Running his tongue across her hard nipple, he took her into his mouth and sucked. As his hand found its way in between her thighs, he slid his fingers into her. She let out a moan as he worked his fingers in and around her. He moved on top of her, sliding his cock into her. Moving with her, thrusting into her, making her cry out for him. Please, please fill me… She begged. He held her close, gave her a grin, as he thrusted deep into her, filling her.

She fell asleep in Richards bed as the church bells rang out the stroke of three. Many cycles of the moon later, on a bitter cold autumn night she gave birth to a girl. She named her Faith.

So I heard…

It was a warm day in mid May, when I had the opportunity to hang out with Jeremiah. I had been introduced to Jeremiah through a friend of a friend. We hung out in groups at the Student Center on campus, usually six or seven of us, hanging out talking about classes, movies, and the goings on. Jeremiah was one of those guys that was just always around, even though I didn’t interact with him directly he was just there. He was good looking, tall with a slim build. His dark shaggy hair was usually hanging in his eyes when it wasn’t tucked under a worn baseball hat. He was never without his old faded blue jean jacket.

On this particularly nice day in May a group of us had driven out to a campground to have a picnic that would turn into a cookout around a campfire. Jeremiah and I had wandered off in the same direction to gather wood for the campfire. The late afternoon sun felt warm the campgrounds themselves weren’t open yet for camping but people could use the tables and fire pits till 11 pm. As we were scavenging for firewood I asked him about something I had heard in passing. Everyone talks and I was curious enough to want to know.

“You know there’s a rumor about you.” I said still picking up broken branches. “Well you have my attention, what is it?” He said making his way over to where I was standing amongst the trees. I gave him a devilish smile. “OK, so it is said that you are very...um...well endowed.” Jeremiah laughed. “I guess that’s one way to put it.”

“What would be the other?” I asked. He leaned into me and whispered. “That I have a big cock.” I smiled at him and whispered back. “Show me.” He grinned at me and glanced around. He undid his belt, unbuttoned his jeans and unzipped. “May I?” I asked. He nodded and I dropped to my knees in front of him. I ran my hand up and down his long, thick shaft, wrapping my lips around the tip of his stiffening cock. He let out a moan and leaned forward against a tree. I let his harding cock slide into my mouth, I could take most of him. I ran my hands over his balls, rubbing and lightly squeezing. “Fuck.” escaped his lips as he ran his hand through my hair. I sucked harder sliding him in and out of my mouth. His breathing increased and he moaned louder. When I could taste his pre-cum I took him out of my mouth and stood up in front of him. He moved into me, kissing me.

He looked at me and smiled. “My turn.” He dropped to his knees hooked his thumbs into the sides of my pants and panties and slid them down. He buried his head in between my legs, licking my pussy. He grabbed my ass pulling me closer to him as he devoured me. I put my head back and enjoyed his tongue sliding in and out of me, making me wet, making me want to feel him in me. As my body shuddered I pushed him back. He stood up kissing me again. “Fuck me.” I whispered to him.

He held me up against the tree, sliding his hard, thick cock into my dripping pussy. I looked into his dark eyes as he pushed into me, stretching me around his cock. Fuck he felt so good, filling me, fucking me.His hips moved quicker as he thrusted harder into me, he kissed me deeply as he filled me with his cum. After taking a moment to enjoy the afterglow. We went back to collecting firewood. “So are there any other rumors you would like to discuss?” He asked as we headed back towards the firepit. I smiled at him. “Possibly.”

The Hairbrush

Lady Margaret fresh from her bubble bath, and adorned with her white satin robe stretched out across the king size four post canopy bed. She ran her hand down her side letting her robe fall open, closing her eyes and sliding her fingers in between her thighs. She let out a sigh, turned over and reached for the gold braided rope that hung beside the bed, and gave it a pull. A few moments later there was a light tap on the door.

“You rang my lady?” Klaus the Butler asked opening the door to the master suite.

“Yes, can you get me the hairbrush off of the dressing table.” Lady Margaret said pointing over to the vanity that sat against the far wall.

“Yes Ma’am.” Klaus said making his way over towards the vanity.

He picked up the gold handled hairbrush and turned back towards the bed. Margaret was sitting up on her knees at the foot of the bed, her chestnut locks hanging down to her breasts, her robe hanging open. Klaus walked over to the foot of the bed, looking Margaret in the eye and held out the hairbrush to her. She smiled and turned her back towards him, pushing her long locks over her shoulders.

“Brush.” She said.

Klaus started at the top of her head, slowly pulling the hairbrush through her thick dark hair. As he brushed her hair she closed her eyes enjoying the tingling sensation that was running down her neck and back. Margaret ran her fingertips over her nipple slightly pinching it between her thumb and finger. She let out a moan and slipped her robe off tossing it to the floor. She leaned forward, falling onto her hand and knees on the bed.

“Spank me with that brush.” She said looking at Klaus over her shoulder.

“Yes Ma’am.”

He raised the hairbrush and brought it down striking her ass. She let out a groan. He raised it again bringing it down slightly harder this time. A smacking sound filled the room.

“Again and don’t stop, till I say.”

Klaus moved closer to the bed and repeatedly brought the hairbrush down on her ass. As her ass became redder she let out moans and screams of pleasure.

“OK, stop.” She said breathlessly. Klaus stopped taking a step back from the bed.

She sat back up on her knees and faced him. Her face and chest were a bright shade of pink, her nipples hard and her pussy dripping. She raised her finger giving a come here motion to him. He sat the brush down on the bed and stood in front of her.

“Did you like spanking me?” She asked putting her arms around his shoulders and pulling him into her.

“Yes Ma’am.” He said clearing his throat. She kissed him on the cheek.

“So I see.” She said running her hand over his crotch.

She kissed him, sliding her tongue into his mouth. He let out a moan. She whispered into his ear.

“Fuck me.”

She moved back from him, turning around and falling onto her hands and knees in the center of the bed. He unfastened his pants, slipped off his shoes and dropped them along with his boxers to the floor. He moved onto the bed behind her, running his hands over her bright red ass. He slipped his fingers in between her thighs rubbing her pussy, letting his fingers slide into her. She let out a moan pushing her hips back against his fingers.

Klaus moved back from her stroking his hard throbbing cock with her juices. Then slid his cock into her pussy, thrusting deep into her. She let out a moan and pushed back against him.

“Fuck me.” She begged.

He moved faster and harder, plunging his cock deep into her, feeling her pussy tighten around him. He grabbed her hips, ramming into her till she yelled out, spilling her juices over him as he filled her.

“Fuck.” He breathed moving back from her.

“That will be all Klaus.” She said slipping her robe back on.

“Yes Ma’am.” He said putting his pants and shoes back on. He picked up the gold handled hairbrush and placed it back on the vanity as he left the room.

Lady Margaret picked up her cigarette case, opened it pulled out a cigarette, lit it and made her way over to the mirrored closet doors. She looked herself over for a second and then slid the center door open. She stepped inside to a smaller adjoining room.

“Did you enjoy that?” She asked taking a drag.

Sir Robert looked up at her from his easychair and smiled.

“Yes dear, I did enjoy that.”

Treehouse, Crack-Pipe, David Bowie

George climbed the rope ladder up to his childhood hideout. The treehouse that his dad had built a lifetime ago was still in the backyard of the little yellow house on Pine Street. The house his parents had bought so very long ago. Now that they were both gone it was up to George to clean out and sell the single level, two bedroom ranch style home. George crawled into the treehouse, there was a record player along with a small stack of albums, he plugged the player into the extension cord that had been run up the tree from the house. He thumbed through the stack.

He chose one and placed it on the turntable, set the needle and turned it on.

“It's a God-awful small affair
To the girl with the mousy hair…” started playing.

George sat back against the wall, took out his crack pipe and lit up. He inhaled deeply and let the heat fill his lungs, holding the high as his body begged for air. He exhaled feeling the warmth wash over him. He put his head back and listened to Bowie belt out the sounds that now moved through his mind accompanied by swirls of colors.

It was dark when George opened his eyes. Coming to and releasing where he had passed out. He made his way down the rope ladder and stumbled into the house. He found his way into the den, flipping on the overhead light as he dropped to his knees in front of his parents liquor cabinet. He pulled on the latch but it didn’t move. George pulled out his pocket knife, flipping the blade open and sliding it in between the cabinet doors and giving it a quick upward pull.

The cabinet doors fell open, George pulled out the almost empty bottle of Jim Beam, unscrewed the cap and downed what was left. He tossed the empty bottle behind him and reached for the fuller bottle of Jack Daniels. Once again discarding the cap and gulping down as much as his stomach could handle.

He got up with Jack in hand and fell into his father's office chair, Now seated behind the large oak desk. George took another swig from the bottle, then started opening drawers, tossing papers and files onto the wall to wall olive green shag carpeting. As he was digging into the lower left hand drawer his hand hit something hard at the back of the drawer. He pulled out an old gray metal lock box, and placing it in front of him on the desk. He took another gulp from the now almost empty bottle of Jack and stared at the mysterious box. He ran his fingers over the lock and gave the top a pull. It didn’t open. He then flipped the box over and looked at the bottom, it was bare.

George sat the box back down and reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a rather beat up pack of Pall Malls taking out a cigarette and placing it between his lips. He checked his other pockets but couldn’t find his lighter so he opened the center drawer to look for a pack of matches. He ran his hands over the drawer full of things, finding a gold Zippo and giving it a click he lit the cigarette.

As he took a deep drag he glanced through the drawer, a small key pushed into the corner of the pen tray at the front of the drawer caught his eye. He fished it out and slid it into the lock on the mysterious box, and gave it a turn. The box clicked open. George took the cigarette and sat it on the edge of the desk, letting the ash fall onto the floor. He sat back for a second took a deep breath and opened the gray metal lock box.

On top was a black and white photo of a woman dressed in a 1940’s looking nurses uniform. She was standing in front of a water fountain surrounded by people going about their day. George picked it up and turned it over written in neat cursive was Rose, Paris August 44’he set the photo aside and pulled out a small stack of envelopes that were held together with a faded pink ribbon. He untied the ribbon and glanced through the stack, they were addressed to PFC Joseph Ridge, his father. George opened the first letter off of the stack, he gently pulled out the light pink piece of stationary, and unfolded it, he held it up to his nose, there was still a faint floral scent to the paper.

Dear Joe,

It’s only been a day since you left but my heart aches for you.

I miss your arms around me.

Our time together in Paris was so short.

I long for your safe return to me.

Love Always, Rose

George lit another cigarette, got up and wandered into the hallway and down to the bathroom. Upon his return to the den he glanced through the lock box some more, he found a fine gold chain with a heart shaped pendant attached to it. He gently opened the heart and found two photos one of his father in uniform and one of Rose. He sat back down and continued reading through the stack of letters. They all read about the same how she missed him and how things were hectic and chaotic because of the war. The last envelope was slightly different, the handwriting on the front was a printed no longer the light cursive of the others. George opened it and pulled out a stark white letter with a newspaper clipping. He read the headline.

Doctors and Nurses Lost in Paris Hospital Booming

He skimmed through the article detailing the casualties of war in Paris from 1944. The accompanying letter just read, I am sorry for your loss, Rose was a dedicated nurse and a kindred spirit. Her absence will be felt with a heavy heart.

George sat back in his father’s chair and finished off the bottle of Jack.

Wishes

I watched her walk into the living room wearing a dark green satin nightie, her hair down flowing in waves over her shoulders. He was sitting on the couch, his throbbing cock stretching the fabric of his basketball shorts. She stood before him and dropped to her knees, she helped him remove his shorts. She ran her tongue along his shaft, sliding the tip between her lips and taking him into her mouth. He let out a moan, closing his eyes and let her suck on him.

I sat in my recliner across from them watching. My fingers gripping the armrests of my chair, my cock aching to be touched. I was mesmerized by her bobbing head, how she took him deep into her throat and then would slide him out, just to plunge her mouth down on him once again. He ran his fingers through her hair, pushing her further on to him. She pulled her mouth off of him, his cock slick with her saliva and oozing pre-cum.

She stood up and pulled the satin nightie from her tossing it onto the far side of the couch. She straddled his hips, sinking onto his throbbing cock. He grabbed her breasts wrapping his mouth around her hard nipple and sucked, as she began moving her hips back and forth. My hand found its way into my sweatpants, gripping my cock, stroking in rhythm to their fucking. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against him and started thrusting into her. She leaned back moaning, gasping and crying out as her juices ran down his cock.

He moved her off of him and laid her across the ottoman that sat in front of the couch. He kneeled down burying his face in her pussy, lapping up her juices. I stood up, dropped my sweatpants and walked over to her, she eagerly took my throbbing cock into her mouth. She sucked on me as her fingers squeezed my balls, making me moan as I watched him eat her out. He stopped, wiped the juices from his chin with the back of his hand.

He had her turn over, she was on her hands and knees, with her ass in the air on the ottoman. She took my cock once again into her mouth as he plunged his cock deep into her dripping pussy. He thrusted quickly grabbing her hips and fucking her. My cock filling her mouth, his filling her pussy. I watched as he fucked her faster and harder, moaning as he filled her.

I couldn’t stand it any longer. I filled her mouth with my cum. She swallowed and let me go. He collapsed onto the couch. I stumbled back falling onto my chair, trying to catch my breath. She crawled over to me, and onto my lap. She nuzzled my neck and whispered into my ear.

“Happy Birthday baby,”

I hugged her, holding her to me, I slid my fingers in between her legs. I worked my fingers into her drenched pussy, rubbing my thumb over her swollen clit. She squirmed against me, I glanced over at him. He was watching us, watching us as he stroked his cock, moving his hand up and down his shaft, then squeezing the tip. I moved my finger deeper into her, making her moan, I kissed her, sliding my tongue into her mouth. I could taste my cum in her mouth. She bucked against my fingers, I whispered to her.

“Cum for me,”

She let out a cry as she filled my hand with her juices.

I removed my dripping fingers from her and wrapped my hand around my stiff cock. Rubbing her juices into my skin. She stood up and I moved onto the floor. Laying on my back, stroking my cock, watching her lower herself onto me.

Feeling her wet, tight pussy engulf my hard throbbing cock. She leaned forward kissing my neck and down my chest, as she slid her pussy up and down my cock. I looked over towards the couch, he was watching, watching and stroking his thick, hard cock.

I looked him in the eye and without a word spoken he got up, walking behind her and kneeled down. He ran his hands along her back and over her ass, slipping his hands in between her legs and feeling her wetness he moved his hand up to her ass and gently pushed his thumb into her. She let out a moan moving to sit up, I grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her down to me.

“Take a breath and enjoy it,” I whispered to her.

She looked me in the eye and then kissed me deeply, as he slid his hard cock into her ass. Slowly and gently he started thrusting into her, as she rode my cock. I watched her as she enjoyed taking both of us at once, she pushed back against him, taking him deeper. He let out a moan, gripping her hips and slamming harder into her. She cried out, I could feel her pussy tighten and cover my cock with her juices.

He came in her and I came deep inside of her watching them enjoy the afterglow. Time took a breath in that moment, everything was still, no noise, no movement, just feeling each other. I exhaled, letting the rush of adrenaline wash over me. He moved back from her, sitting on the floor leaning up against the liquor cabinet. She laid on me, I gently rolled her off of me and onto the dark green shag carpet with hints of gold specks scattered throughout it.

I leaned over and gave her a kiss, as I pulled an afghan off of the hope chest and covered her. I sat up leaning against the couch, I found my sweatpants and pulled them on. I tossed him his basketball shorts and motioned for him to hand me the bottle of Jameson that was out on top of the liquor cabinet. He reached up, grabbing the bottle of Jameson and handed it to me. I unscrewed the cap and took a long pull from the bottle.

“So did you enjoy your birthday?” he asked.

I gave him a grin, looked over at her, curled up with the afghan fast asleep and said.

“Yeah,” as I took another long hit off of the bottle and handed it to him.

Quite Contrary

Act 1

Bradley Russell Thompson lived in the little town of Lime Springs Iowa. Brad as he was called by his friends and family, wasn’t much to look at, sporting an average height of 5’ 8”, while being slightly overweight, he never called much attention to himself. He wiped the steam from the bathroom mirror with his forearm and set to combing his thin brown hair, that barely touched his ears. He could never do anything with it, it just laid on top of his head, like a handful of straw. He brushed his teeth, then took a seat on the edge of the tub and began his daily ritual of rubbing lotion into his feet, legs, hands and arms. He had taken a job out at the Henderson’s ranch, he was a good worker, obedient, helpful and when asked he stayed late. Now Brad was approaching his 22 birthday and his parents, Joan and Norman Thompson, decided that Brad needed to leave the nest. He hadn’t graduated from High School, choosing to work the Henderson’s ranch instead of studying. Since he had been working for close to four years now out at the ranch, Joan and Norman felt that it was time for him to venture out on his own. So on July 1st Brad set out to find a place to rent, now being that Lime Springs is such a small town, he headed east over the river to the town of Pioneer which was slightly more populated. He found an ad advertising a room for rent, $300 a month utilities included.

Mary and Henry Richardson had, had a hard year, in Pioneer Iowa. They owned a nice small three bedroom home on the northside of town, one that they had bought before things got tight and Mary had lost her job, due to downsizing in the retail industry. Henry made decent money as an assistant manager in the agriculture industry, his position was made up of phone calls, purchase orders and handling the daily routines of the staff. After getting through the first part of an abnormally hot summer on not very much, Mary and Henry decided to place an ad in the local daily paper.

Room for Rent

$300 a month

Utilities included

They had crunched the numbers, figuring that having a little help covering the mortgage would ease the burden while Mary looked for work.

Act 2

Upon meeting Brad, Mary and Henry found him to be a normal enough person, he had a steady job, cash in hand and kept to himself. In Mary’s mind this was a temporary solution, and as soon as she could get back to work it would just be the two of them once again. Brad moved in and for the first three months everything ran smoothly. Henry and Brad would go to work, Mary looked for a job and kept up on the house work. When September rolled around the temperature at night started to drop, prompting Mary to want to clean the baseboard heaters that ran throughout the house, as well as clean, shut and cover the windows. In trying to save money she didn’t see the point in running the heat if it was just going out the windows. So one chilly day in mid September she got out her rags and broom and began working her way through the house. When she got to the spare bedroom, Brad’s room, that was situated towards the back of the house she was taken aback at the state of the room. The room that she had cleaned and set up and was willing to rent out. Was full of trash, everything from empty fast food containers, to half empty cans of beer, and dirty laundry. The foul smell of grease, stale beer and farm animals hit her, she closed the door and let out a sigh. A polite discussion of please remove the trash form in front of the heaters ensued that evening and Mary was able to check the heat registers and cover one of the bedroom windows the next day.

Brad enjoyed taking long showers, usually at the most inopportune times. Which prompted Mary to wonder what one dose in the shower for forty-five minutes. Hell, she timed herself once and she did everything she needed to do and it only took twenty minutes. Part of her didn’t want to know what took him so long, it made her shudder considering it. Also she found strange things in the bathroom after Brad had showered, one day it was an unopened bottle of water, left on the shelf with the soap in the shower, the other day it was multiple sets of headphones, just left on the countertop. And his inability to do laundry regularly had left a grimy odor filled bath towel, that may have been white at one time. Brad also had a habit of eating all the leftovers during the night. This ritual occurred each night after Mary and Henry had turned everything off for the evening and retired to their bed. Mary would get up the next morning to make coffee and find a sinkful of dishes, consisting of last night's leftover containers, and an empty ketchup bottle. Brad put ketchup on everything, he also crushed up Cheetos and Doritos in a bowl and added milk to it. Mary knows all this because she has to clean up the mess left each night, she is also one that plans meals and buys the food, since Brad never buys groceries, only fast food and beer.

Act 3

During the third week of November Mary landed herself a part-time job at Frank’s Diner, she worked the dinner shift 4 pm to 9 pm. Which left her with very little time to see Henry since he worked from 8 am to 5 pm, she took what she could get. Even a thankless minimum wage, sometimes tips, on her feet, the whole time, waitressing job. Mary still got up at 6 am every morning to make coffee, clean the kitchen and start laundry, before walking the half mile to Frank’s to run a five hour dinner shift. Then Henry would pick her up a little after 9 pm, they would go home and collapse into bed, grasping at sleep so that they could do it all again the next day.

It was a bitterly cold day in mid January when Mary got up at 6 am as usual, made coffee, cleaned the kitchen and started the laundry. On this particular day she had a smile on her face and a spring in her step. Mary had made a nice dinner and dessert the night before, she looked at the empty leftover containers in the sink and giggled to herself. Brad got up as usual, showered and left for work a little after 8 am. As he was helping shovel out one of the barns on the southside of the Henderson’s ranch he suddenly felt light headed. His chest felt tight and he became nauseous, he stumbled forward and fell face first into the snowbank.

By mid March Mary had cleaned out the spare bedroom and decorated it as her crafts and sewing room. She also earned herself a full-time position at Frank’s Diner as head hostess.

Crazy Train

“Must not forget my shaving kit.” George Allen mumble to himself as he finished packing for his business trip to Ridgeville. He was only going to be gone for four days but wanted to make sure he had everything he needed to be presentable to the board of directors. He was pitching his idea for a new ad campaign, the company had been in the red since February and Mr. Bennet had personally asked George to come up with something that would ‘wow them’.

George finished packing, slipped on his shoes and grabbed his jacket. “Did you get your jacket?” Heather asked as George descended the stairs. “Yes dear, I have it right here.” He said giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. So that Heather would have the car for the week, and since it was a sunny warm day in mid April George chose to walk the three blocks to the train station. “Have a safe trip.” Heather said giving George a kiss on the cheek. “Yes dear.” George said opening the front door and heading out.

He headed down the walk and took a left onto the sidewalk. He started up Orchard avenue, humming to himself as he strolled along. When he got to the top of Orchard avenue he took a left onto Washington Street and headed down hill towards the station. George was about halfway down Washington Street when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his shoulder blade. He turned around seeing a tall skinny man standing behind him as he sunk to his knees from the pain. George is slightly aware as a black cargo van pulls up beside them. The skinny man grabs George around the middle and hoists him into the van.

...All day long I think of things but nothing seems to satisfy

Think I'll lose my mind if I don't find something to pacify

Can you help me, occupy my brain?..

Played, as George opened his eyes, he was surrounded by darkness. His head throbbed, he went to move and realized that his hands were handcuffed to the bed posts. Moving his leg he quickly realized that his ankles were shackled as well.

“What the fuck!” He yelled out to the empty room.

The overhead fluorescent lights snapped on, George closed his eyes. “Georgey, Georgey, Georgey.” The tall skinny man said as he entered the basement. George blinked rapidly trying to focus on the voice. “I’m Chad and that’s Dennis.” Chad said pointing over to a heavy set man holding a video camera in the far corner of the basement. “What the hell is going on?” George yelled out. Chad stood next to the bed and placed the end of a leather riding crop against Georges mouth. “Shhhh…” Chad said as he ran the riding crop down Georges body. George became very aware of his nakedness as the riding crop passed his hip and trailed down his inner thigh.

Dennis had moved closer to the four post bed that held George, against his will. Panning the camera up and down his body. Chad raised the leather riding crop, a loud ‘snap’ rang out as he brought it down onto George’s thigh. “Fuck!” George screamed his eyes watering from the sting. Chad and Dennis left the basement, flipping off the overhead fluorescents, once again the music filled the room.

...Oh yeah

I need someone to show me the things in life that I can't find

I can't see the things that make true happiness, I must be blind…

“I Fucking hate Ozzy.” George screamed.

~ ~ ~ ~

“Wakey, wakey, Georgey.” Chad said lightly tapping George’s cheeks with the leather riding crop. George blinked the overhead lights were on once again. Chad came into view, standing over him. He was dressed in a black latex bodysuit, it covered his body from toe to neck. His skinny body looking skeleton like sealed in the latex. There was a commotion over in the far corner, George turned his head. Dennis had knocked over a chair, and set it right. “You ready over there?” Chad asked sounding annoyed. Dennis picked up his camera and nodded.

Chad opened a duffel bag that had been placed on a coffee table next to the bed. He took out a candle, lit it and set it on the end table next to the head of the bed. The musty basement smell was joined by the vanilla scent from the candle. He took out a long, rounded tube with a trigger handle on the end. “What the fuck is that?” George exclaimed. Chad looked over at him grinning. “They call this a human cattle prod.”

George squirmed against the bare mattress. “Knock it off!” Chad said. He pulled out a black whip with multiple long, knotted strands. Chad turned towards the bed bringing down the whip across George’s bare chest. “Fuck!” Chad struck him again, leaving long red streaks. He moved down striking George’s stomach and thighs. George struggled against the handcuffs and shackles trying to avoid the blows. Chad moved back up his body, striking his outstretched arms. Dennis had come closer standing about a foot from the bed.

Chad picked up the candle, he held it over George’s chest, and slowly dripped the hot wax down his red streaked chest. “FUCK!” George screamed. Chad set the candle back down. He picked up the cattle prod, running his hand along the smooth, rounded post.

Chad got on the bed, sitting in between George’s outstretched legs. He ran the end of the cattle prod up George’s inner thigh, stopping next to his balls. He pulled the trigger. George’s whole body tensed up and shuddered. Chad ran his latex covered fingers up George’s inner thigh and over his cock. Slowly stroking it. George tried to move away from Chad’s touch. But there was nowhere he could go. He glanced over at Dennis who was filming, and who definitely had a hard on watching this torture go down. Chad’s stroking increased in speed, squeezing the tip when he got to it. “Fuck.” George said pushing his hips up against Chad’s hand.

Chad removed his hand and pulled the trigger, another jolt rushed through George’s body. George fell into darkness.

~ ~ ~ ~

George came to with the Prince of Darkness’ vocals screaming in his head.

All aboard!

Hahahahaha

Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye…

Then he became aware of the warmth that was engulfing his cock. He raised his head looking down his body to find Dennis hungrily sucking his cock. The overhead lights were still off and the music was still playing at full volume. Dennis sucked, licked and stroked as George laid there unable to fight back.

George closed his eyes and let himself cum, filling Dennis’ eager mouth. When he had finished Dennis got off of the bed, walked over to the head of the bed, whispered something into George’s ear and then stuck him in the neck with a hypodermic needle. George mumbled Dennis’ words to himself as he fell back into darkness.

George awoke to find himself in a motel room, fully dressed with his travel case and jacket.

“What the fuck.” He said sitting up on the bed, his head pounded. He found his shaving kit and some aspirin. He made his way to the bathroom, filled the plastic complementary cup with cool tap water and drowned the aspirin. He stood looking into the cracked mirror that hung over the sink. He unbuttoned his shirt and examined the red welts that covered the upper part of his chest.

George closed his eyes and Dennis’ words seeped back in. “Don’t go home. Heather knows about Rachel. This is her doing. Don’t go home.”

Ribs and Sauce

Larry fumbled the keys dropping them to the floor.

“Why do we have to do this here?” Dave asked shifting the two bags of take out in his arms.

“Because no one understands,” Larry answered as he bent down to pick up the keys. He slid the key into the lock.

‘Click’ he opened the door. The two men entered the small rundown apartment. Dave set the two bags of take out down on a small kitchen table that was just to the right of the door. Larry found the switch and flipped the light on. Something scurried across the floor and down the hall.

“Well that’s disturbing,” Dave said taking a seat at the table.

“He doesn't eat much,” Larry said heading into the kitchen and opening the fridge. He pulled out two bottles of beer, grabbed a roll of paper towels off the counter and took a seat across from Dave.

“Ready?” Larry asked handing Dave a beer.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Dave answered using the bottle opener on his keychain to pop the top off of his beer. Larry handed him his bottle and Dave popped the cap off and handed it back.

“Cheers,” Larry said holding up his beer.

“Cheers,” Dave said knocking his beer against Larry’s.

Larry started laying out containers of food, baby back ribs, Texas beef brisket, Georgia pork, baked beans and coleslaw. The last container was tall and round, it contained the sweetest, richest barbecue sauce this side of the Mississippi. Larry carefully removed the plastic lid from the styrofoam container and inhaled deeply.

“Mmmm…take a whiff,”

Dave leaned over the table and smelled the warm sweet sauce.

“Smells like my Aunt Dee’s kitchen back in Tulsa,”

Larry picked it up and poured it slowly over the baby back ribs, the Texas beef brisket and the Georgia pork.

“Plates?”

“We don’t need plates just dig in,” Larry said handing Dave a fork and a paper towel.

Dave stabbed his fork into the container of Texas beef brisket, and slid the dripping piece of meat into his mouth. It was tender, juicy and sweet.

“Mmmm…”

Larry smiled, “Good isn’t it?”

Dave chewed, swallowed and answered, “Very,”

Larry picked up a rib and chewed the meat off the bone, he then sucked the juice from the bare bone. Slurping and sucking the barbecue sauce off of his fingers as he ate. Dave gave up on using his fork, he picked up a piece of Georgia pork and dipped it into the barbecue sauce, drenching his fingertips in the sweet sauce. He dropped the piece of pork into his mouth, dripping sauce down his chin. He sucked the sauce off of the tender piece of pork before devouring it.

“You missed some,” Larry said reaching across the table and running his fingers along Dave’s chin. He wiped the sauce up with his fingers and then licked them off.

“Thanks,” Dave said as he started chewing on a rib.

After many minutes of silent slurping, licking and gulping Dave asked,

“So why can’t you eat like this at home?’

Larry put down the rib bone he had sucked dry, licked his fingers off and looked across the table at Dave.

“Because after seven years of marriage my dear Tina Marie has declared herself and our home vegan, forcing me to eat here in this dump,”

“Can I get another one?” Dave asked holding up the empty bottle.

“Yeah, help yourself,”

Dave got up and made his way into the kitchen, opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of beer. He popped the caps and set one down in front of Larry.

“Thanks,” Larry said taking a pull from the bottle. Dave gave him a nod as he took his seat, he sipped on his beer sitting back and looking at the mess of bones, sauce and meat that covered the small table.

“So are we going to get to why you invited me here?”

Larry stopped eating and sat back in his chair, he took a sip of his beer, giving Dave a slight smile.

“Are you saying that I invited you for more than just your company with dinner?”

“Yes, I do think that you invited me for more than just dinner,” Dave took a long drink of his beer.

Larry put his beer down, stood up and walked over to Dave. Larry put two fingers into the tall container of barbecue sauce and held his hand in front of Dave’s mouth. Dave opened his mouth and Larry slid his fingers into his mouth and he sucked the sauce off of them. Dave stood up in front of Larry, Dave dipped his fingers into the container of barbecue sauce and smeared the sauce across Larry’s mouth. Larry grabbed Dave’s hand and licked the remaining sauce off of Dave’s fingers. Dave leaned in and ran his tongue along Larry’s lips, licking off the sweet barbecue sauce.

“Mmm…” Larry moaned and moved back. Dave unbuttoned his shirt and took it off, laying it across the chair behind him. Larry removed his t-shirt tossing it on the coffee table behind him, and picked up the tall container of barbecue sauce off of the table. Larry poured the remaining sauce across Dave’s collarbone and watched it run down his chest. Larry moved towards Dave grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him towards him. Larry pressed his lips against Dave’s and Dave parted his lips, allowing Larry’s tongue to plunge deep into his mouth. Dave kissed him back deeply, as the sweet sticky sauce smeared between them. Larry broke off the kiss and gently pushed on Dave’s shoulders.

Dave dropped to his knees in front of Larry, running his hands up the back of his legs and across the front of his pants. Rubbing his hand along the bulge in his pants. Larry let out a moan, unbuttoning, unzipping and dropping his pants along with his boxers to his ankles. Dave stroked Larry’s hard thick cock, sliding it into his mouth and gently sucking. Larry let out a moan and tangled his fingers in Dave’s hair, while pushing deeper into his mouth. Dave moaned and sucked harder, running his hand up and down Larry’s shaft.
“Fuck,” Larry said as he came, Dave swallowed and continued to suck till Larry pushed him away. Dave took his seat at the table and finished off his beer. Larry pulled up his pants and wandered into the kitchen, he opened the freezer pulling out a frosted bottle of Jack Daniels. Larry twisted off the cap and took a long pull from the bottle. Larry sat back down at the table and handed Dave the bottle. Dave took a drink and handed it back.

“Shower?” Larry asked taking another drink from the bottle.

“Yeah,” Dave answered looking down at the drying smeared barbecue sauce, that coated his chest and stomach. Larry led the way into the bathroom and started the shower. They stripped and stepped into the warm water. Larry picked up a bar of soap and started to lather up, he faced Dave and began lathering up his chest. Larry ran his soapy hands across Dave’s chest and down his body, taking his time to rub Dave’s throbbing cock. Larry turned around, placed his hands on the shower wall and bent slightly forward. Dave moved in behind him and slid his cock into him, Larry moaned and Dave pushed further into him. Gently moving back and forth fucking him till Dave couldn’t stand it any longer and came deep inside him.

They finished showering, dried off and got dressed. Larry closed the empty containers, putting them into the trash and cleaning off the table. They left the apartment, Larry locked the door, tossed the garbage into the dumpster outside and got into his 97’ Honda Civic and drove away. While Dave started walking up Bridgewater Street towards his apartment on 10th and Noble. Dave unlocked the door to his apartment, made his way into the bedroom, changed his clothes and crawled into bed.

“Late night?” Karen asked turning to face him.

“Yep,” Dave answered. He kissed her on the forehead turned over and went to sleep.

Zeb

“Hey, sleeping beauty, do you need a kiss?” the voice said.

Jane opened her eyes, remembering where she was.

“Nope, I am good,” she answered, fully aware that she had fallen asleep during the bus ride to school. She looked over at the guy that had posed the question. Zeb a senior this year, that still rode the school bus, he was cute, in a rebel without a cause sort of way. With his ripped jeans, t-shirts with obscure bands on them, and the ‘I don’t care about style’ hair that hung in his eyes half the time.

Jane made her way upstairs to her locker, it was her junior year of High School, and school had been a whole lot of ‘blah’ so far this year. As she opened her locker, she heard Brandi yapping away as she came down the hallway.

You know the type, that introduce themselves as Brandi with an ‘i’, sign their name with a little heart over the ‘i’, and always smell like bubblegum. Brandi and Zeb were a thing, Zeb’s locker was a few down from Jane’s in the math wing of the school. As Zeb opened his locker, Brandi pulled out her lip gloss running the wand over her lips, and then continued talking.

Jane pulled her textbooks for morning classes, Brandi stopped talking abruptly. Jane looked over, Brandi’s back was to her and Zeb was kissing her. Zeb shot Jane a look. Brandi broke off the kiss and headed down the hall. Jane closed her locker and headed towards class.

“Sometimes it’s the only way to get her to stop talking,” He said as Jane passed him.

“Does she taste like bubblegum?” Jane asked.

Zeb laughed. “Yeah, sort of,”

Over winter break Jane’s parents separated, her mom moved into town, renting the upstairs of a house. It had two bedrooms, and shared the garage with the owner that lived downstairs. Jane also had taken a job to help out with the rent, since she was spending the majority of her time at her mom’s place.

Jane was walking home one day after work when it started to rain. Large heavy raindrops accompanied by a chilling wind, kind of rainstorm that comes out of nowhere. She continued to walk against the downpour, when a pick up truck pulled up beside her.

“Get in,” Zeb said reaching across to open the passenger door.

“Thanks,” She said as she got into the warm dry truck.

“You going to your mom’s?”

“Yeah, it’s off of…”

“I know,” he cut her off, giving her a smile.

“It’s a small town,”

“That it is,” Jane said sitting back.

Zeb parked in front of the garage, turned off the truck and faced Jane.

“I am sorry about your parents,”

“Thanks, it’s been...you know what I don’t even know,”

Zeb put his hand over hers, giving it a light squeeze. He reached over and touched the side of her face, her skin was cold from the rain. He leaned in, kissing her lightly on the lips. She moved back looking into his dark eyes.

“I should go, thanks for the ride,”

“Anytime,”

A few days later, Jane was walking to work, as she passed the house at the end of the block, Zeb parked in the driveway. She keep walking but looked back as Brandi came bouncing out of the house talking away and got into the truck.

The school year had ended leaving Jane to work more hours. As Jane was leaving work a voice asked her a question.

“Would you like to go for a drive?”

Jane turned to face the voice, giving Zeb a smile.

“Sure,”

They drove out towards the river and found a secluded place to park among the trees.

“So Brandi lives down the street from me,”

Zeb laughed. “So I noticed, how are things?”

Jane took a deep breath, exhaling slowly and looking out the window.

“Things are exhausting,” she said looking at him.

He put his hand on her shoulder, pulling her towards him. She let in and leaned against his chest, he ran his hand down her back. Jane closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his hand rubbing her back. She moved up and kissed him. Parting her lips and letting him slide his tongue into her mouth. He let out a moan and she kissed him longer, letting her lips linger upon his.

She put her head back on his chest, running her hand down his arm and lacing her fingers into his.

“Are you busy later?” she asked.

“Depends on when later is,”

“After 9 pm, my mom’s staying out at her friends house tonight,”

He ran his fingers through her hair, and kissed the top of her head.

“I think I can pencil you in at nine,” he said.

She sat up and moved back from him. He leaned forward and kissed her.

At 9:15 pm Jane answered the door wearing a faded grey t-shirt and a pair of navy blue sweatpants.

“Nice outfit,” Zeb said.

“Thanks,”

As they walked through the kitchen he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into him. He hugged her giving her a kiss.

“No bra, nice,” he said kissing her again.

“And no panties,” she said taking his hand and leading him into the bedroom.

“Isn’t this you mom’s room?” Zeb asked as they entered the bedroom.

“Yeah, but she’s not here and it has a bigger bed, unless you want to attempt to fit two people on a twin bed, I think we should stay here,” Jane answered pulling him into her.

She kissed him grabbing the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled it up over his head, running her hands along his bare chest. He slid his thumbs into the waistband of her navy blue sweats and slid them down to the floor. She stepped out of them and pulled her grey t-shirt off tossing it on the floor. Zeb gazed over her naked, toned, petite body.

“Very nice,” he said as he unbuttoned, unzipped and slid off his jeans.

Jane spread her naked body across the queen size bed, laying on her back and opening her legs. She slid her hand down in between her legs. Running her fingers over her pussy, letting her fingertips tease her clit. Zeb joined her on the bed, laying beside her, he ran his hand over her breast, lightly pinching her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. He left a trail of kisses from her mouth, down her neck and across her collarbone, to her breasts. As he took her nipple into his mouth, she slipped her fingers into her pussy.

“What do you want?” Zeb asked her, as his hand joined hers rubbing her pussy.

“I want you...to make me cum,”

Zeb smiled at her as he moved down her body. He kissed the inside of her thigh, moving his hands under her and pulling her to his mouth.

Jane let out a moan when he slid his tongue into her pussy. Her hands gripped the bedspread as he sucked on her clit.

“Fuck,” she breathed, in between spikes of adrenaline, rushing through her body. She reached down, running her fingers through his hair, he pushed deeper into her and she shuddered, filling his mouth with her juices.

He moved back from her, sitting up and wiping off his chin.

“You ok there?” he asked. She cleared her throat and sat up.

“Ooo...headrush, yeah I am good,” she smiled at him.

“Good,” he kissed her and stood up.

“You leaving?”

“Yeah, I need to be somewhere,” he said slipping on his jeans and finding his t-shirt.

“Brandi’s?”

Zeb gave her a sideways look.

“Yeah,”

“Well you might want to pop a breath mint before kissing her,” she said putting on her t-shirt and sweats.

Zeb pulled into Brandi’s driveway, he reached over and thumbed through the glovebox. Finding a forgotten pack of wintergreen gum, opening it and chewing on a stick. Brandi came bouncing out of the house and got into the truck. She leaned over and kissed him on the lips.

She gave him a confused look.

“What?”

“Have you started smoking?”

“No, why?”

“Because you don’t usually chew gum,”

Zeb shrugged his shoulders. “Just felt like it, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, lets go,” she answered giving him a smile.

Encounter

The buzzing from the console pulled Becca from her dream. She opened her eyes glancing over at the communications console, as the red incoming message light flashed. She sat up swinging her bare legs over the side of the bed, before standing she looked at the sleeping body beside her and ran her hand across the back of his shoulder. She made her way over to the console and reached for the button to receive the incoming urgent message. As her fingertips brushed the button he grabbed her wrist. “Please don’t answer that.”

Twenty-Four Hours Earlier

“Captain Rebecca Lewis daily log 69: The biodome continues to thrive, the plants have adapted to the foreign soil and the ultraviolet light air converter has been successful so far in converting the planets saturated carbon dioxide atmosphere into breathable oxygen. A mark of the changing of the seasons is the outside surface temp has dropped from a comfortable 24 degrees celsius to a much cooler 4 degrees celsius.” Becca signed off from the daily log recording and took a deep breath.

Becca had been on the newly discovered planet they call Espérer for almost ten weeks. Ten long, lonely, quiet weeks. The daily routine of checking plants, taking data analysis and logging everything was starting to wear on her.

As she was getting ready to retire for the night the communications console buzzed. Becca pushed the incoming message button. “Captain Rebecca Lewis one Captain Neil Bristol will be joining you on Espérer soon.”

“Well of all the eligible people it had to be Neil.” Becca commented to herself.

As she laid in bed her thoughts drifted to a distant past. Rebecca had been ranked number two in her class at the Academy, only to be out done by one cocky, self centered Neil Bristol. During the graduation after party Neil had approached her, all full of himself, feeding her some line about how she should be with number one, meaning him. She blew him off, making her way over to her friends. Shortly after graduation came training, long hours of lectures paired with survival training and pilot training. For one of the training simulations six cadetes were put in a small rectangular room with wooden benches along each side. They sat as the room slowly grew warmer and the air got thinner. Becca was counting to herself as she took slow deep breaths, one, two, three in. one, two, three out. Neil was seated across from her his knees almost hitting hers. As she got back to three the small room started to spin, Becca could feel herself start to fall. Neil grabbed her laying her down on the floor and starting mouth to mouth resuscitation. When Becca came too she thanked him and accepted his offer to grab dinner and a drink. Neil was sweet in the beginning, the closer they got to the end of training the more bitter he became. After training they were assigned to different programs and hadn’t seen each other since.

~ ~ ~ ~

Becca was making her daily rounds when she was startled by a loud buzz coming from the front airlock. She made her way to the camera and looked out at Captain Neil Bristol waving at the camera in his spacesuit. Becca took a deep breath and pushed the button opening the outer airlock door. Neil stepped inside and the door closed behind him. He removed his spacesuit, and made his way into the decontamination shower area. Becca watched the cameras as he undressed and entered the shower.

As Neil exited the shower Becca switched on the intercom. “There are clean clothes in the locker, to your left.”

Neil looked up at the camera and nodded. After getting dressed Neil entered the living habitat. “Captain Lewis, it’s been awhile.” He said taking a seat at the counter.

“Yes it has, nice to see you Captain Bristol.”

“Becca.” He said.

“Neil.” She answered giving him a sideways look.

“Since we’re the only ones here I think you can call me Neil.”

“Fine, can I get you anything, Neil?”

“Something to eat and drink would be appreciated.”

~ ~ ~ ~

After eating Becca gave Neil a tour of the biodome. Explaining the in’s and out’s of the program, as she finished up her rounds and data entries. “You seem to have everything under control here.”

“It still early in the program. We have to wait to see if the plants produce fruit and then hope that it’s editable.”

Neil began rummaging around in the cupboards in the living habitat. “Looking for something?” Becca asked. “I know you must have a stash of the real stuff somewhere. You know for special occasions.”

“Top right, in the back.” She answered. Neil reached up and into the cupboard, finding a bottle of whisky. He poured two glasses and asked. “No chance there’s ice?”

“Nope.”

“Oh well this is still better than nothing, cheers.” He said tipping his glass towards her and then downing it.

“Cheers.” Becca said before downing the whisky.

“Another?” Neil asked holding up the bottle.

“Sure.”

Neil reached across the countertop, brushing a piece of Becca’s hair away from her cheek, moving it behind her ear. Becca closed her eyes as a shiver ran down her back from his touch. Neil came around the counter and stood beside her. He ran his hand up her bare arm, resting it on her shoulder. Becca moved into him running her hand across his chest and down his arm.

“It’s been awhile.” She breathed.

“Yes it has been.” He said wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into him. He kissed her gently on the lips. She put her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him to her, kissing him deeply. Sliding her tongue into his mouth, he let out a moan and kissed her back.

Becca slid her hand into his and lead him over to the bed. She removed the clip from her hair letting it fall over her shoulders. She slipped off her shoes, socks and pants. Neil undressed, then pulled Becca’s shirt off over her head.

He ran his fingers through her hair, and down her back. Kissing her neck and down to her breasts. Becca let out a moan when he latched his mouth over her breast, feeling him suck on her nipple. Her knees went weak and she fell back onto the bed taking Neil with her. He ran his hands down her body, slipping his fingers in between her thighs. Rubbing her pussy, then sliding his fingers inside her. She let out a moan arching her back against his hand. He moved up kissing her, she sucked on his tongue as his fingers worked her. Bringing her to a climax, as her juices spilled over his hand. He brought his dripping hand up to her lips, she slid his fingers into her mouth and sucked.

Becca pushed him onto his back and sat up next to him on the bed. She ran her hand down his body, sliding her hand around the base of his hard cock. She slowly stroked moving her hand up and down his shaft. She then leaned over sliding the tip of his cock in between her lips, and letting him slide into her mouth as she sucked. Letting her hand slide down, gently squeezing his balls, as she sucked harder. He let out a moan, tangling his hands into her hair. She sucked till she could taste his pre-cum, letting him go and licking his throbbing tip.

She straddled his hips, sinking down onto his cock. Feeling him in her, she moved her hips back and forth. He wrapped his arms around her and moved her off of him and on to her back. He moved onto her and thrusted into her. Burying his face against her neck whispering. “Feel me, fuck me, cum for me.”

Becca pushed up against him meeting his thrusts and fucking him. He kissed her deeply as he felt her pussy tighten around his cock, he came deep in her, filling her. Neil rolled over breathing deeply, he pulled her to him. Becca laid her head on his chest, closed her eyes and listened to him breathing.

~ ~ ~ ~

Becca looked up at Neil as he held her wrist to his chest. She reached over with her other hand and pushed the incoming message button and hears: “Captain Lewis we regret to inform you that Captain Neil Bristol’s space pod exploded during deployment. We’ll be sending someone soon to relieve you.” Becca stared into Neil’s eyes as they turned black.

Silent Observer

I know I shouldn’t but I can’t help myself. I think about you, I think about what I want to do to you, what I want you to do to me. I daydream, I fantasize, I enjoy myself while wishing that you were here with me...kissing me, touching me, fucking me.

Jack turned the handwritten note over, he raised it to his nose, it had a light scent to it. A familiar scent that he tried to pull the name of from the back of his memory. It was no use he couldn’t place the scent. The front door opened, Jack quickly tucked the note into his jeans pocket.

“Are you going to help me or just stand there?” Karen asked as she was balancing two full bags of groceries in her arms.

“Yeah, let me get that.” Jack said as he took the bags from her.

“How was your day?” Karen asked while they put the groceries away.

“Good, I’m almost done grading finals, can’t wait till break.”

“How does stir fry sound for dinner?” She asked.

“Sounds good, I’m going to get back to it, let me know when dinner is ready.” He said giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Jack sat in his office staring at the handwritten note that he had found mixed in with the days mail. He took a deep breath, at least he had been home and found it and not Karen. He wanted to pass it over as just a prank from a student. He closed his eyes and thought about the students that had been in his English 200 classes this semester at the Community College. No one stood out to him, he read the note again.

“Dinners ready.” Karen said as she passed the office door.

“OK, thanks.” Jack said getting up to put the note inside one of the many books on his shelf. He ran his finger over the spines of a shelf of books, stopping at a hardback copy of The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce's Ulysses, he flipped the book open noted the page number and slid the note inside and put the book back.

As the last week of classes were drawing to an end Jack hadn’t given the note any more thought. Till he was sitting at his desk going through the papers he had collected from the week, when a pale blue envelope stuck between two papers caught his eye.

He picked it up, holding it to his nose. The same familiar scent filled his nose, he turned it over and opened it.

Before it comes to an end...I want you to know. I want you to know that since the beginning I have watched you. Followed you...fantasized about you. Aren't you curious...don’t you want to know? Thursday 3 pm Room 146 Please come...I need you to know.

Jack stood around the corner from room 146 he glanced at the clock in the hallway, it read 2:55 pm. He waited and watched only one person entered room 146 at 3:02 pm.

Oh my god...it’s Alice.

~ ~ ~ ~

Jack took in the realization that it was Alice, cute, helpful, sweet, thirtysomething, divorcee that came back to finish getting her Associates Degree.

Alice

He opened the door to room 146.

“Hello.” He said closing the door behind him.

Alice dressed in a pair of black capris, a white sleeveless top and a pair of sandals was standing in front of the oversized oak desk that sat at the front of the classroom.

“I wasn’t sure you would come.”

“Let’s say curiosity got the better of me.”

Jack pushed the lock button on the door handle and made his way over to Alice. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. Jack stood in front of her, he ran his hand up her bare arm, reached behind her head and pulled the elastic band from her hair. He ran his fingers through her loose hair, and leaned in kissing her on the cheek. He took a second to breath in her scent the same one that was haunting him from the notes. He moved back from her.

“What is that scent? It seems so familiar.”

“It’s Lily of the Valley.” Alice answered, moving into him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and kissing him gently on the lips.

Jack pulled her closer to him and kissed her, sliding his tongue into her mouth, kissing her deeply. Alice let out a soft moan and kissed him back.

They were startled by the doorknob being rattled.

“I’m not sure that we should do this here.” Jack said.

“You maybe right, so my place?”

Jack smiled and kissed her again.

~ ~ ~ ~

Jack parked his 95’ Ford Mustang in the parking lot of the small apartment complex off of Northridge and Third Street. He didn’t frequent this side of town much, hell the last time he came this far south was to pick up some lumber from Hanson’s Hardware when they were re-doing the deck two summers ago.

Alice got out of her 82’ Honda Civic and tapped on Jack’s window.

“Are you still in?” She asked.

Jack nodded and exited his car. They walked across the parking lot and up to entrance C, Alice unlocked the door and they entered the building. She opened her mailbox grabbing the stack of flyers and bills.

“This way.”

They walked down the hall to apartment 2, Alice opened the door, flipped the light on and tossed the mail along with her keys on to the small table by the door.

“It’s not much but it’s mine for now.”

“Nice.”

“Can I get you a drink?”

“Sure, whatever your having.”

Alice opened the fridge and pulled out two beers.

“Good enough?” She asked popping the tops off.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Jack took a long pull of the beer.

“Come make yourself comfortable.” Alice said moving into the living room, and taking a seat on the couch. Jack joined her on the couch, sitting his beer down on the end table.

Alice took off her top, her white lace bra accenting her firm breasts. She kicked off her sandals and straddle Jack’s lap. She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his neck, she moved her hips back and forth against him. He kissed her gently squeezing her breasts, she reached back and unclasped her bra, letting it fall to the floor. He ran his tongue over her hard pink nipple before latching on and sucking.

Alice let out a moan and ran her hand down to Jack’s crotch, rubbing his cock through his jeans. She kissed him deeply, then moved off of his lap. She stood in front of him, slipped out of her capris and white lace panties.

“Nice.” Jack breathed taking in her body and nicely shaved mound.

“Join me.” She said grabbing her beer and heading into the bedroom.

Jack finished off his beer, got up and followed her into the bedroom. Alice laid on her stomach in the middle of the queen sized bed. Jack stripped, and laid down next to her. He ran his fingers along her back and over her ass, he kissed the back of her neck as he slid his fingers in between her legs.

“Mmmm.” She moaned, spreading her legs apart. Jack ran his fingers along her pussy, then slid two finger into her.

“Fuck.” Alice breathed as she adjusted her hips up to allow his fingers to thrust deeper. She found Jack’s mouth kissing him.

He moved his hand and turned over onto his back, Alice got up on her knees and leaned over him. Stroking his cock, she slipped her mouth over the tip and let him slide into her mouth. Sucking harder as she ran her hands over his balls and gently squeezed.

“Fuck.” Jack said as he ran his hands through her hair. She continued to suck till she could taste his pre-cum. Alice sat up and straddled Jack’s hips. She looked him in the eye.

“Yes?”

“Yes.” He answered grabbing the back of her neck and pulling her in for a kiss. Alice slowly sank onto his cock, moving her hips back and forth, while looking him in the eye.

“Fuck.” Jack moaned as he grabbed her hips, thrusting deeper into her.

Alice sat up and leaned back, he reached up and grabbed her breasts lightly pinching her nipples as she fucked him. She slid her hand down to her pussy and rubbed her clit as she rode his cock. Jack moved his hands down to her hips, he tightened his grip around her and flipped her onto her back.

“Damn.” She breathed as he pushed into her. He stopped for a second and leaned down, kissing her deeply. He moved down her body leaving a trail of light kisses over her breasts down her stomach to her pussy. Jack pushed her legs apart, kissing her inner thigh, making his way to her pussy. He slid his tongue into her, tasting her. Running his tongue over her clit.

“Fuck.” Alice yelled, as she pushed him deeper into her. Her breathing quickened as she came from his tonguing.

“Mmmm.” he moaned as he licked up her juices. He moved up to her mouth, she kissed him tasting herself on his lips.

“Fuck me.” She whispered.

~ ~ ~ ~

“Is that you?” Karen asked from the kitchen as Jack closed the front door.

“Yeah, how was your day?” He said heading towards the kitchen.

“It was fine, what’s that for?” Karen asked as Jack put down a small silver gift bag.

“It’s just a little something for you.” He said giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Karen turned down the stove to simmer and picked up the gift bag. She opened the top and pulled out a small bottle of perfume.

“Lily of the Valley?” She said giving her wrist a quick spritz. She smelled it.

“Nice, thank you.” She said giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Were having beef stew for dinner, it will be ready in a few.”

Kiss and Kill

Kay Russell was asked personally by her managing editor Ronald Jacobson to cover the ‘free spirits in the desert’ as he put it, between taking gulps of black coffee from his chipped classic diner mug. Ronald Jacobson was nearing the 60 year mark, a sticky note with his retirement date written on it in black Sharpie clung to the side of his computer monitor. Kay had joined the local paper after getting her BA in Mass Communications with an emphasis on Print Journalism. She had been with the paper for just over a year and this was her first out of town field assignment.

After getting settled at the Friendly Budget Inn on I-80 Kay got her things together and headed over to check out the festivities. The ‘free spirits’ in this case were a group of artistic, free minded individuals numbering around eighty. Their ‘Free Minds, Free Bodies, Free Expression’ moto hung on a hand-painted banner that was fastened to two poles and stretched out over the dirt road that leads into the Black Hills Desert. Kay found a place to park, exited her car and started wandering through the crowd of half dressed individuals.

She bumped into a guy walking the other way.

“Sorry,” she said in passing, the guy nodded and continued on.

Then Kay heard it from behind her.

“Hey, Kay? Kay Russell is that you?” the voice of the guy she had bumped into asked as he made his way back towards her.

Kay knew exactly who it was she had randomly run into. Richard Boyd, Richie the guy she had had a schoolgirl crush on throughout High School. Kay and Richie had many classes together over there four years in Roosevelt High School, from the first time Kay saw Richie in Mrs. Thompson's Intro to Literature class to the last AP Biology class they had together senior year Kay was love sick. His broad shoulders, wavy brown hair and a square jaw, gave him that a Superman look. When he took up playing football during Junior year her crush intensified, his toned, muscular body along with that grin and charm. It melted her, even though she could never bring herself to ask him for more than to borrow a pencil.

Kay took a deep breath, turned to face Richie and said, “Hey Richie, what brings you out here?”

“I’m freelancing for a small independent rag. Came to see what all the hype was about.”

“Nice, I guess I’ll see you around.” Kay said turning to walk away.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Richie said grabbing her upper arm. Kay faced him slightly surprised by his actions.

“What?”

“Can I talk you into getting a drink and helping me with something?”

Kay gave him a sideways look.

“Maybe, depends on what you need help with.”

“I’ll explain over a drink.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Kay and Richie found a small tiki bar that had been set up amongst the festivities.

“What can I get ya?” The Bartender asked as they took a seat at the bar.

“Whatever your having.” Kay said.

“In that case we’ll have two Zombies, please.”

The Bartender nodded.

“So what do you need help with?”

“This” Richie said taking out his phone, holding it up and pushing record.

“Hello everybody, this is my friend Kay, say hi Kay.”

Kay gave a false smile and said hi to the recording phone.

“We’re out here checking out the festivities, no need to worry. Talk to you all later.”

Richie pushed stop on the phone.

“What the hell was that?”

“Thanks for helping, my family worries so I send them videos to show that I am fine.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Kay was about half way through her drink when Richie struck up a conversation.

“Can I ask you something?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“There was a, let’s call it a rumor in school about you, Kyle Sheridan and a dry handjob in the back of Wendy’s.”

“What? You may need to elaborate on that one.”

“Well according to Kyle you gave him a handjob in the back room at Wendy’s. Of which he said it was dry and not very good.”

“Wow, that’s one way to twist the narrative.” Kay said finishing off her drink.

She motioned to the Bartender.

“Can we get two shots of Jack, please.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

They downed the shots.

“OK, now would you like to hear the real story?”

“Yes, hit me.”

“Kyle and I were in the backroom at Wendy’s before it was time to open the doors. We had done all the prep work and had a few minutes to kill. Now Kyle is a big flirt and I was game at the time, so we went into the backroom and I got on my knees in front of him.” Kay ordered another shot of Jack and downed it.

“And?” Richie asked.

“And I sucked him off and he enjoyed it, there was no handjob, let alone a dry one. Kyle’s a fucking asshole.”

“Yeah, Kyle’s an asshole. So you up for a walk, take in the insanity of ‘Free Minds, Free Bodies, Free Expression’?”

“Sure.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Twilight had began bathing the dessert in an eerie blue light, people started building bonfires around the area. Kay and Richie walked through the groups of people, small groups dancing, and singing together. They entered a large tent, full of oversized floor pillows scattered around on the floor. There were a few couples sitting around some talking, some making out.

“Would you like to partake?’ a short man in a silk robe asked holding out a pipe.

Richie gave Kay a look.

“You game?” He asked.

Kay took the pipe and inhaled, holding the smoke in her lungs as long as she could, then slowly exhaled.

“Nice.” She said handing the pipe to Richie.

He took the pipe and inhaled, held and exhaled. Richie handed the pipe back to the man and took Kay’s hand. He lead her over to a pile of floor pillows and sat down. He pulled her down next to him. Kay leaned over and whispered. “Now what?”

“Now we wait.” He said leaning back and getting comfortable. Kay sat back next to him, and closed her eyes.

~ ~ ~ ~

A deep warm feeling washed over her, the pillows felt softer, the air warmer. She moved her hand and realized that he was still holding her hand. She glanced down looking at her fingers interlaced with his, how soft his skin was. Kay’s gaze moved up looking into Richie’s dark eyes. He meet her gaze and moved towards her. Kissing her gently on the lips. Kay let out a sigh, put her hand on the back of his neck and kissed him again. She sat back against the pillows, he leaned over her and whispered into her ear. Kay giggled, she couldn’t help herself, his breath on her neck sent a shiver down her back as her arms broke out in goosebumps.

Richie stood up, holding his hands out to help her to her feet. She took his hand and stood up, the room spun. She took a quick step into his arms.

“You OK there?”

“Yeah, head rush.”

They walked out into the cool night air. Kay looked up at the sky, littered with bright stars, they made their way over to a bench and sat down. Kay closed her eyes and took a deep slow breath, letting the high wash over her.

“Any thoughts on what time it is?” She asked. Richie checked his watch.

“10:45 pm.”

“So back to the Friendly Budget Inn? That is where you’re staying?” Kay asked.

Richie leaned in and kissed her, slower and deeper this time.

“Yes.”

~ ~ ~ ~

The sun streamed through the slit of the heavy rust colored curtains, falling upon Kay’s face. She turned her head away at the realization that it was morning. Her head pounded and her body ached, she moved her arm towards the other side of the bed. Her fingers hit something, it was soft and cold.

“What the…” Kay quickly moved and fell onto the floor.

“What the fuck?” a groggy voice from the other side of the room asked.

“Richie? If you’re over there who the fuck is in the bed?” Kay asked trying to get up off of the floor.

“What are you going on about?” He asked, getting up and walking towards the bed.

Richie looked over the nice looking blonde that appeared to be sleeping, except that her bright blue eyes were open and her skin was pale. He moved closer touching her wrist and then her neck.

“Well whoever she was she is most definitely dead now.”

“Who’s room are we in?” Kay asked standing next to Richie.

“Mine, I think.” He answered looking around.

“Do you remember anything from last night?” Kay asked gathering her clothes and getting dressed.

“Not really. Except…”

“Except what?” Kay asked pulling her shirt over her head.

“You’re not going to like it. But given the circumstances.”

“Not like what?”

Richie wandered over to the far wall that faced the bed. He ran his hand over the top of a painting of sunflowers pulling down a small black box.

“What the fuck Richie…”

“I told you, you wouldn’t like it.” He said turning on his laptop.

“Can we at least not do this in here, with her?” Kay asked.

Richie got dressed taking his laptop with him to Kay’s room.

~ ~ ~ ~

“I can watch that on an empty stomach.” Kay said calling room service. After two cups of coffee, scrambled eggs with sausage and an english muffin Kay was ready to face the events from the previous night.

“OK, fire it up. Let’s see what we’ve gotten ourselves into.” She said taking a seat next to Richie.

He pushed play, the timestamp read 11:15 pm. Kay watched as they made out, undressed and thoroughly enjoyed each other on a carnal level. She could feel her cheeks getting hot as the embarrassment and regret of the nights events were being played back to her in high def.

“So you film all your conquests?” Kay asked getting up and rummaging through her bag.

“Not always. What are you looking for?”

“These.” Kay answered pulling out a pack of cigarettes. She lit one and sat back down.

At 1:35 am Kay went into the bathroom, and Richie took a call and then left the room.

“Where did you go?” Kay asked taking a deep drag.

“I have no idea.” He said taking the cigarette from her and taking a hit.

Richie pushed the fast forward button. Kay coming out of the bathroom, having a drink, lying on the bed.

“Stop.”

The timestamp read 2:40 am when Richie returned to the room with the blonde on his arm. Kay lit another cigarette.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

“Do you have anything stronger?”

Richie laughed, “Not on me.”

Richie went to push play Kay put her hand over his.

“Maybe we should be on the same page before seeing what happened.”

“What do you think happened?”

“Considering she’s dead something happened.”

He took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Let’s see what happened, before overreacting.” He said leaning in and kissing her on the lips.

Richie pushed play. The blonde was introduced to Kay. Kay and the blonde kissed, she then did a striptease and laid on the bed. Kay moved in between the blonde’s legs, eating her out while Richie feed her his cock.

“Fuck.” Kay said under her breath.

Kay watched as the three bodies intertwined fucking each other in various positions. Then they were all still.

“Fast forward it.” Kay said.

“Stop”

The timestamp read 5:15 am Kay watched as the blonde got up took something out of her handbag and went into the bathroom. Richie then got up, leaving just Kay on the bed. Fifteen minutes later the blonde came back to the bed and laid down.

“Well that does and doesn't answer things.” Kay said looking at Richie.

“Meaning what?” Richie asked.

“Meaning you knew where the camera was. What happened during the fifteen minutes you were both off camera?” Kay asked getting up and getting a bottle of water out of the mini fridge.

As she turned back around, Richie was standing right in front of her.

“Oh Kay, sweet, curious Kay.” He said wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her. Then looked into her eyes and said. “You need to make a choice, either you’re with me or tomorrow's headline will be ‘Two women found dead at the Friendly Budget Inn’ your choice.”

He kissed her again holding her tightly to him. Kay looked at him, kissed him again and said. “Guess we had better go clean up the other room then.”

Aunio

Stephanie sat on the corner of her bed in her white cotton nightgown, the one with the little blue roses embroidered along the neckline, brushing out her long red hair. She had been growing it out for two years now, and she was proud of how long it had gotten. She stood in front of the full length mirror that hung on her closet door admiring that it was now past the small of her back. She pulled it back into a loose braid and crawled into bed.

She pulled the covers up to her chin and snuggled down, the excitement of starting high school in the morning was keeping her from falling asleep. She had picked out an outfit for the first day, a blue plaid skirt that came to the top of her knees and a light blue button down blouse, topped off with a pair of Mary Jane's. The pale moonlight streaming through her window illuminated the room in an eerie shade of gray. She glanced around the room, checking off in her head all the things she needed to remember for school. Backpack, notebooks, schedule, lunch… She double checked her alarm clock making sure it was set for 6 am on the dot. Stephanie dozed off.

It was still dark when she woke up and looked at the clock: 2:45 am the red illuminated number read. She thought she had heard something, something moving around in her room. She glanced around and decided that she had dreamed it and went back to sleep.

She awoke to her alarm blaring, “I know that I can't take no more, Ain't no lie, I want to see you out that door, Baby bye bye bye…”

“Oh god,” she mumbled and slammed down the snooze button. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and stretching. As she was getting dressed she notice that the closet door was slightly open. Not thinking anything of it, she closed it on her way down to breakfast.

“Morning dear,” her mother said as she entered the kitchen. “Cereal or yogurt?”

“Yogurt’s fine,” she answered, taking a seat in the breakfast nook. Stephanie ate her breakfast and gathered her things for school.

“So are you ready for your big day?” her dad asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“I guess so,”

“You’ll do fine,” he said as he gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.
~ ~ ~ ~

“How was your day?” Stephanie’s mom asked as she entered the kitchen.

“Fine,” Stephanie answered as she pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and headed up to her room.

“Hopefully high school will expand your vocabulary,” she commented as Stephanie disappeared up the stairs.

She tossed her backpack on her desk and flopped down on the bed. She closed her eyes trying to make the day fade away. She couldn’t help but replay the incident at lunch over in her head.

“Who are you looking at?” Nancy asked as they were sitting at the lunch table.

“What? No one.” She answered being pulled out of a daydream.

Nancy turned around and glanced in the direction that Stephanie had been gazing.

“Austin? Really?” Nancy asked grinning at Stephanie.

Nancy started to get up. “No don’t.” Stephanie pleaded, as Nancy turned and walked over to Austin, bent down and whispered something in his ear. His gaze met Stephanie’s and then he started laughing. Stephanie’s cheeks turned bright red. She hurried to gather up her things and rushed out of the cafeteria.

“Bad day, Steph?” a soft spoken voice asked.

“What the?” She bolted upright and starred in the direction of the unfamiliar voice.

The closet door was slightly open and there was a pair of yellow eyes peering at her.

“Who are you?”

The closet door opened a little bit more and a tall figure resembling a man with matted down shaggy hair and long bony fingers moved further into Stephanie’s room.

“I am Walter,” the soft voice answered.

“What are you?”

“Well, where I come from I am called a Runic,” Walter answered.

“Where do you come from?”

“I am from a place called Aunio. I can show you it, if you would like?”

“Come further in so I can see you,”

“Only if you close the shades, the sun hurts my eyes.”

Stephanie got up, closed the shades and turned on the bedside lamp.

“Better?”

“Yes, much thank you,” Walter answered as he pushed the closet door open and stepped into her bedroom.

Stephanie looked Walter over. He was dressed in light brown pants and a white top that looked like pajamas. He stood upright on two long legs, he had bare feet with long toes. His arms were long and hung at his sides. His face was older looking, slightly wrinkled but kind, a slight smile spread across his mouth as she met his yellow eyes. Being a naturally curious person Stephanie asked.

“Is it a safe place, this Aunio?”

“Yes, are you ready to see it?”

Stephanie sat on the edge of her bed twirling her hair between her fingers, giving it some consideration.

“You know what Walter, yes. Do I need to bring anything?”

“You may want to change into something more comfortable,”

Stephanie looked around and picked up her white cotton nightgown.

“Will this do?” she asked holding up the nightgown.

“That will do, you won’t need any shoes,” he said pointing to her Mary Janes.

“You wait in the closet and I will get ready.”

“Ready,” Stephanie said opening the closet door.

Walter waved his hand and a darkness appeared within the closet.

“Through there?” Stephanie asked, giving her decision to see Aunio one more round of rational thought.

“Yep.”

Stephanie took a deep breath and walked into the darkness. She felt a strange pull on her as she moved through the opening. As she emerged into the other side, she became aware of a cool smoothness beneath her bare feet. It was cool at first then became a plush softness, like the dark blue throw with silver snowflakes on it that her mom would put out on the sofa during winter break. She curled her toes, enjoying the softness.

A soft yellow light illuminated Stephanie, casting down like a street lamp. As she looked for the source of the light it bathed her in warmth. As her eyes adjusted she could see a rich dark purple sky scattered with glints of silver. It reminded her of an art project they did in school last year with metallic paint and glitter.

She looked at Walter.

“Aunio?”

“Yes, Aunio,”

Stephanie looked at Walter in the dim light. His face appeared rounder, his ears had become pointed, with the tips peeking out from his shaggy hair. Stephanie reached up and touched one of the tips, his ear twitched from her touch. She looked at his eyes, they appeared larger and brighter than before.

“Shall we?” Walter asked.

“I think we shall.”

They walked into Aunio, there were other Runics walking around, taller ones, shorter ones, younger looking ones and older ones. All were barefoot and all were wearing pajamas of various colors. In the distance, tall structures that looked like pyramids stood while smaller rectangular structures stood in front of them as they walked through Aunio. Stephanie touched one of the structures as they passed. It felt dry and rough, like sandpaper.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“I want to show you our history,” Walter answered. They continued walking on the plush ground, passing by the other Runics. “Here it is.” Walter stopped in front of a pyramid looking structure. A large stone door opened as Walter touched the side of the pyramid. They entered into an open space with pictures carved into the walls.

“Hieroglyphics?”

“Similar to, but it’s our own language. I will read it for you.”

Stephanie watched as Walter pointed with his long fingers, at each grouping of symbols and pictures, explaining what they meant. Walter touched a picture that looked like a large cat with a round symbol over its head.

“This is Keren our Regina, our Queen, we are all born from her,” he explained. We have always been here in Aunio, at least until we found the way.”

“The way?” Stephanie asked.

“A doorway that lets us travel into your world.”

Walter continued showing her their history, how they evolved over thousands of years, becoming more human like than cat. How they built the pyramids and established a community, where they all live and work together.

~ ~ ~ ~

“So did the Runic build the pyramids on Earth?” Stephanie asked as she sipped what seemed to be a milkshake of some sort.

“Only if you choose to believe it. Are you ready to go back?” Walter asked as they wandered through Aunio.

“I think so, but why did you choose me?”

Walter looked at her with his large yellow eyes.

“Why not you?”

“Valid point, will I see you again?”

“Perhaps.”

As Stephanie finished off the milkshake a calmness fell over her as she gazed out at the dark purple sky. Her eyelids felt heavy, and there was a strange pull on her body.

“Don’t worry tomorrow is another day full of possibilities.” Walter said as she felt herself falling asleep.

Stephanie opened her eyes and found herself laying on her bed, she looked over at the clock on the nightstand. Only ten minutes had passed since she had come home from school.

~ ~ ~ ~

Many moons later…

Stephaine stepped out onto the deck, the cool summer breeze felt good against her skin. She pulled her tattered, worn housecoat around herself. She stood at the railing looking over the backyard, small glints of light began dancing around. She smiled to herself as the fireflies lit up the quiet night.

Her thoughts floated back to her school days that were filled with so much unnecessary worry and doubt. Then she met David, they were so young, full of passion and ambition. She loved David with all her heart, the two girls that he gave her fulfilled her young life. Lisa with her headstrong, independence and Katie with her kindness and compassion. Stephaine cherished her time spent raising her two daughters, how quickly the time went, before she knew it they were off establishing families of their own.

The later years with David thinking about retiring from his lifelong career in banking, brought a peaceful time of travel, relaxation and reconnection with him. Then David got sick, it came on suddenly and his battle was lost in a short eighteen months.

Stephanie took a deep breath raising her head and looking at the blanket of stars that covered the night sky. A gust of warm wind blew through her long silver hair as she closed her eyes. Losing David was painful, the years that followed have become a blur of survival. Full of reading, traveling and searching for something...someone to fill the hole left in her heart.

Then she met Bill, during her time in Southern California, he had been raised on the beach, surfing since he was a boy. There was an instant spark between Stephanie and Bill, they were both in their fifties and knew the value of time. Their romance and life spent together was full of travel, friends, food and family. The twenty-two years they spent in each others arms felt like one of those lost summers from your childhood.

Stephanie got a chill and pulled the housecoat tighter around herself. “Steph.” A voice in the distance said. Stephanie turned towards the far end of the deck, her eyes fell upon a tall figure resembling a man with matted down shaggy hair and long bony fingers. “Walter?” She asked as her gaze met his round yellow eyes. “Yes, Steph.” Walter said moving towards her.

She took a step back and her knees buckled, Walter reached out and caught her, helping her to a nearby patio chair. “Would you like to see Aunio again?” He asked kneeling beside her. Stephanie smiled. “Yes.”

Walter stood up and took a few steps away from Stephanie, he raised his hand and moved it in a circular motion, a dark swirl appeared. He walked back over to Stephanie and extended his hand, she took it and stood. They walked towards the dark swirl, as she stepped into the doorway she looked back at her body slumped over in the patio chair. As Stephanie emerged from the other side feeling the cool smoothness beneath her bare feet, a feeling of peace washed over her as she accompanied Walter into Aunio.

This piece is a continuation of the Walter piece that I wrote for the ‘Land Without Mirrors’ anthology, and is dedicated to a woman that I had the pleasure of knowing a lifetime ago. For Karen a kindhearted, ambitious, never afraid to venture out and try new things woman. Looking back now I understand her friendship, kindness, and love. With Peace and Understanding -Megan

The Light of Day

A faint light has begun off to the east, creeping its way slowly across the dark fields of wheat and corn. The light reaches the side of a single level ranch style home. There is a small tear in the screen of the kitchen window that has been left open. A lazy, fat horse fly makes his way through the tear and into the kitchen, gliding over the yellow formica countertops, and landing on one of the dark stained cupboard doors with worn brass handles. The morning sun streams through the kitchen window illuminating the clean but worn area. Upon entering the kitchen John rolls up the morning paper and smacks the lazy horsefly, it falls to the countertop and John sweeps it into the trash bin.

He opens one of the cupboards doors, pulling out a tin of Folgers coffee and goes about filling and starting the Mr. Coffee 12 cup coffee pot that he and Ann received last year form Lucy as an anniversary present. Lucy being Ann’s much younger sister by a full sixteen years, had just received her first paycheck from her after school job, and wanted to get John and Ann something that they could use everyday. John poured himself a cup, tossed some sugar and half & half in and took a seat at the kitchen table to skim the morning paper before heading out to the Henderson’s Ranch to get started for the day. Ann entered the kitchen wearing her faded pale blue bathrobe. “Morning.” She said before coughing and clearing her throat. “How are you feeling?” John asked. “OK, just have this nagging cough that doesn't seem to want to go away.” Ann said pouring herself a cup of coffee. “You can always give Dr. Baker a call, I’m sure he would do a house call for you.” He said rinsing out his coffee cup and grabbing his keys from the hook on the wooden plaque that says ‘KEYS’ that is hung on the wall next to the backdoor. Ann shrugged. “We’ll see how the day goes.” John kissed her on the cheek and walked out to his 67’ Chevy pickup that Clive Henderson had sold to him for a decent price. It wasn’t much to look at but it was reliable, and being out in farmland away from town that’s what mattered.

Ann made her way into the living room, with her coffee, shuffling her bare feet over the shaggy green carpet and taking a seat in the brown easy chair, with worn arms. She sat back pulling on the wooden handle to extend the foot rest. When she was comfortable she found herself a copy of Redbook and thumbed through the magazine, as she sipped her coffee.

Ann awoke to a violent coughing fit. She managed to get herself up, out of the easy chair, making her way down the hallway leaning against the dark wood paneling, and into the bathroom. Her coughs shook her body, causing her eyes to water, and her nose to run. She spit into the bathroom sink, the phlegm was a dark yellow. Ann gagged, dropped to her knees and leaned over the toilet, she held her long dark hair back as she expelled her morning coffee. She sat on the bathroom floor taking slow deep breaths.

Dr. Baker knocked on the door at a quarter past one. Ann had showered, dressed and straightened up the house, in anticipation of his arrival. “Ann, how are we doing today?” Dr. Baker said stepping inside as Ann held the door open. “I’d be better if this cough would go away.” She said showing him into the living room. He took a seat on the faded burgundy couch, putting his doctors bag down on the oak coffee table. “Have a seat, I’ll take a listen.” Ann sat beside him, as he took out his stethoscope. Dr. Baker held the stethoscope to Ann’s chest. “Deep breath. And again.” He said. “OK, now your back.” Ann turned her back towards him. “Deep breath.” He said listening as she exhaled. “And again. And once more.” He said listening to each side of her lungs. He put the stethoscope down and took her wrist, he watched the second hand of his watch as he took her pulse. He then looked into her eyes, as he ran his fingers down the side of her neck and over her collarbone. He retrieved a small flashlight from his bag. “Say ahh.” Ann cleared her throat and said “Ahh.” Dr. Baker shined the light into her mouth. “OK, good.”

He put his stethoscope and flashlight away and took out a small notebook and pen. “Just a few questions. How long have you had this cough?” He asked. Ann thought about it for a second. “Hum...Let’s see. It was after Easter. So maybe three months now.” She said. He made a few notes and then asked. “Do you smoke?” Ann shrugged her shoulders. “I do have one or two of John’s Winston’s, once in a while.” He nodded his head making another note. “On a scale of one to ten, how bad do you feel today? Ten being the worst.”“I would say maybe an eight for the last few days.” She said. “I think you have a case of acute bronchitis, drink plenty of water, rest and eat soups. I’ll leave you some cough syrup with a pain reliever.” Dr. Baker said gathering his things. Ann walked him to the door. “Thank you for coming out.” She said. “No, problem. Give me a call if you need anything else, and give this to John when he gets home.” He said handing her a folded note.

Ann put the note for John on the kitchen table and opened the pantry doors. She glanced over the assortment of canned goods, grabbing herself a can of Campbell’s chicken noodles. She warmed up the soup and made some toast. After eating she looked at the bottle of cough syrup, poured a spoon full and swallowed. “Eww..” Ann said twisting her face at the bitter taste.

The house was dark and quiet when John got back from the Henderson’s Ranch, he read over the note Dr. Baker had left him while sipping on a bottle of Coke.

John,

Ann has a bad case of bronchitis, see that she gets plenty of water, and rest. I left her some cough syrup that should help her when resting. Let me know if her condition changes.

Sincerely,

Dr. Baker

John finished off his drink and went to check on Ann.

~ ~ ~ ~

Three Weeks Later

John sat at the kitchen table fidgeting with the pen in his hand. Ann wasn’t getting any better, Dr. Baker had been back out to see her, he examined her, took more notes and was going to discuss it with a colleague of his in Topeka. That was ten days ago. Ann was no longer able to leave her bed for more than an hour or two, before she would become winded and over come with a deep, harsh coughing fit.

John straightened the blank piece of notepaper in front of him. “How do I even start this letter?” He mumbled to the empty room. He got up and walked into the living room, he stood staring at the framed piece of artwork. The ‘Singing Cowboy’ by Gary Patterson, he found it strangely calming with it’s faint yellow undertone. John went out onto the porch, it was late and the moon was full. He lit a cigarette and took a long deep drag, exhaling slowly. It was just him and Ann, out here among the corn and wheat.

Dear Lucy,

I don’t even know where to begin in making this request to you.

Ann isn’t getting any better, and I fear she is not going to be with us much longer.

It pains me to have to write this to you.

Can you please come, for Ann.

Always,

John

~ ~ ~ ~

Lucy stood at the front door to the single level ranch home. There was a note on the door addressed to her.Lucy let yourself in, Ann is in her bedroom. We'll talk when I get back. John

Lucy let herself in, taking her bag to the spare bedroom. The house was stuffy and in need of a good once over. Lucy tapped on Ann’s bedroom door before opening it. “Ann?” She said entering the room. “Lucy? Is that you?” Ann asked clearing her throat and trying to sit up. “Yes, dear.” Lucy said taking her sisters hand in hers. Ann let out a sigh, before engaging in a coughing fit. “Let’s get some light and fresh air in here.” Lucy said heading over to the window. She pulled back the heavy gold colored drapes and opened the window. “That’s better. Now I’m going to make you some food, then straighten up.” Lucy said heading towards the bedroom door. “Lucy.” Ann said in a hushed voice as not to cough. “Yes?”“Thank you for coming.” Lucy gave her a smile and headed to the kitchen.

John opened the backdoor entering into the kitchen, as he hung up his keys the best smell hit him. “Damn, that smells good.” He said taking a seat at the kitchen table. “Thanks, it’s beef stew with lots of veggies.” Lucy said pouring a ladle of stew into a bowl for him. She set the bowl down in front of him and returned to the oven, pulling out hot fresh rolls. She poured two tall glasses of ice tea, tossed the rolls into a dish and took a seat at the table.

John ate like he hadn’t eaten in days. “Thanks for this, and that.” He said nodding towards the now clean living room. “You’re welcome, and that’s what I’m here for.” She said giving John’s hand a quick squeeze.

John and Lucy spent their days attending to Ann, spending time talking with her when she was able and reading to her while she rested. Lucy would sit with her during the day while John was out working on the Henderson’s Ranch, and John would sit with her in the evening, telling her about his day out on the ranch.

During one of their evening chats, as the three of them were in Ann’s bedroom reminiscing about school days past, laughing and enjoying each others company. Ann said. “I want the two of you to promise me something.”“What would that be?” Lucy said still giggling from the previous conversations. Ann cleared her throat. “I want the two of you to take care of each other, when I’m gone.” She said. Lucy looked at her sister, it felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. It was the first time Ann had said anything about it being the time after. Lucy swallowed hard trying to regain her voice. John got up and leaned over Ann, kissing her on the forehead, and left the room. “Do you want to add to that?” Lucy said. “Not really, I think the two of you will need each other. You know after.” Ann said.

~ ~ ~ ~

Lucy found John out on the porch. “Would you like one?” She asked holding a bottle of Whisky. “Yeah.” He said wiping the back of his hand across his cheek. Lucy opened the bottle and took a drink. She then handed it to John, he took a long pull from the bottle. “That was...ugh...out of left field.” Lucy said taking the bottle back from John. “Yeah, I wasn’t expecting her to say that.” He said. “Have you thought about after?” She asked, taking another hit off the bottle. John looked at her and lit a cigarette. “Have you?” He asked. Lucy took the cigarette from in between John’s fingers, and took a drag. “Not really.” She answered handing back the cigarette.

Lucy went back inside. When John came back in she was standing in front of the ‘Singing Cowboy’“What is it about this picture? It’s strangely comforting.” She said. John scoffed as he headed to bed.

The following days bleed into each other, cooking, cleaning, attending to Ann’s needs. The end was coming quickly. It was a Saturday morning in early September, the summer heat had let up and the rains had begun. Lucy went into Ann’s bedroom to open the drapes, like she had done every morning for the last three weeks. She opened the drapes and window, looking out at the steady morning downpour. “Morning Ann.” She said as she turned to face the bed. She looked at Ann laying there on the bed, tears started to run down her cheeks as the realization set in.

“John!” She screamed. John came rushing into the bedroom. “What?” He looked at Ann’s bed and then at Lucy. He walked over to the bed, closing Ann’s eyes and covering her with the bed sheet. He then walked over to Lucy, pulling her into a hug and taking her out of the room.

“Drink this.” He said handing Lucy a glass of Brandy. John downed a glass, cleared his throat and picked up the phone.

~ ~ ~ ~

One Week Later

“It’s a nice headstone. Ann would have approved.” Lucy said. John nodded as they stood in the rain looking down at Ann’s resting place. Lucy placed a bouquet of white lilies next to the single red rose that John had left. “So are you staying?” John asked, not looking up. Lucy took his hand, interlacing her fingers with his. “As long as you want me to.” She answered.

Five Little Monkeys

Sunday

Detective James Andrews took a final drag of his cigarette before tossing it. He took a sip of his coffee as he made his way down the taped off alleyway.

“So why am I out here on a Sunday morning?” James asked Detective Benjamin Knowles. Who was speaking with a uniformed officer in the middle of the alley.

“Good morning James. Nice of you to join us.” Benjamin said making his way over to James.

“So what do we have?” James asked taking another sip of his coffee.

Benjamin opened his notepad. “Female, approximately 5’2” 110 lbs. 25-30 years old. Looks like a drug overdose. She has previous track marks on the inside of her left arm.”

James pulled back the sheet and looked over the pale, skinny woman. “We’ll know more after we run her prints and do a tox screen.” Benjamin said as James covered her back up.

Monday

James entered the downtown police precinct at 9 am on Monday morning. “Good morning Sir.” Officer Roberts said as James signed in. “Morning.” James grumbled back. The phone rang as Officer Roberts buzzed James into the office. James took a seat at his desk, there was a folder with a sticky note stuck to the front. ‘Prints back on Sunday’s body’

James opened the folder. Cindy Norton 31 previous record of solicitation and drug possession.

“Nice.” James muttered to himself.

Cause of Death:

Overdose of Cocaine trace amounts of Fentanyl.

Personal Possessions:

Tube of lip-gloss- strawberry

Cell Phone

$25 in small bills

James closed the folder, getting up to head down to the evidence room to retrieve the cell phone. As he stood up his desk phone buzzed.

“Yes?”

“Sir they need you out at Madison Bridge, someone jumped during the morning commute.” Officer Roberts said.

James pulled over putting his car in park, he was in the center of Madison Bridge, one of the two lane bridges that crossed the West River. “What’s the story?” James asked the responding officer as he lit a cigarette. “Darrell Lane 35, stopped in the middle of the bridge at 8:45 am.” Officer Thomas said as he pointed to the dark blue Honda Civic that was abandoned. “Mr. Lane’s personal possessions were left on the passenger's seat, his wallet, cell phone and keys. He exited his car made his way over to the support post, climbed up and jumped off. According to the witnesses that were stopped behind him.” Officer Thomas said looking at Detective Andrews. James looked over at the abandoned car and then to the support post, he walked over and looked over at the fast moving river below. “Well that’s quite the story.” James said finishing his cigarette. “Any chance they have found his body yet?”“No Sir, they are searching down river for him.” James pulled on a pair of gloves as he looked through Darrell Lane’s car. The wallet, cell phone and keys were neatly laid out on the seat. James opened the glovebox, registration, insurance card, owners manual, and some small odds and ends, including two condoms, three packets of sugar and two packets of hot sauce.

James picked up the cell phone, ‘1 new voicemail’ flashed when he turned it on. James played the voicemail. “Monday August 12th at 8:40 am, Five little monkeys jumping on the bed one fell off and broke his neck.” the voice was male with a slight cracking sound, and the sound of a music box playing in the background. James saved the message and put the phone in an evidence bag along with the wallet and keys.

James made his way downstairs to the evidence room. “Afternoon Sir.” Officer Wallace said. “Afternoon, can you get me Cindy Norton’s personal effects. Please.”“Yes Sir, one second.” James drummed his fingers on the counter while he waited for Officer Wallace to return. “Here you are Sir, just sign here.” James signed and took the evidence bag. “Thanks.” James said as he headed back up the stairs.

Detective James Andrews sat at his desk looking through Cindy Norton’s phone, not finding any cryptic messages. “How’s it going?” Detective Benjamin Knowles asked taking a seat. “Honestly it’s getting a bit bizarre.”“Yeah that voicemail was something else, on the plus side they found Darrell Lane’s body, about five miles downstream from the bridge.” Benjamin handed James a file. James sat back and flipped it open. Cause of Death: Broken Neck “That’s creepy.” James said. “Yeah, the medical examiner says it’s from the impact of him hitting the water. He died instantly, no water in his lungs.”

Tuesday

“Been a while since I’ve been on this side of the tracks.” Benjamin said as they drove south on the interstate. “Yeah, I don’t get out to motel row much these days.” James said as they pulled off the interstate and onto the frontage road. During the late eighties a bunch of small motels sprung up along the interstate taking advantage of long haul truckers and travelers. Since then the majority of motel row’s residence are more the drug induced type. Which included Cindy Norton’s last known address at the Southgate Motel room 17. Benjamin retrieved the key from the front desk but it wasn’t necessary, the door was open. James and Benjamin entered the trashed out motel room. “Lovely.” Benjamin said slipping on a pair of gloves.

Fast food containers empty soda and beer cans mixed with some clothes littered the room. The red message light was flashing on the phone. James picked up the receiver and pushed zero. “Sunday August 11th 7:15 am, Five little monkeys jumping on the bed one fell off and flew to high.”“Fuck.” James said putting the receiver down. “What’s up?” Benjamin asked stepping out from the bathroom. “Cindy Norton and Darrell Lane are connected somehow.”

James started digging through Cindy and Darrell’s past trying to find a connection, when his desk phone buzzed. “Yes?”“Sir, we have another one.” Officer Roberts answered.

“That’s a sight.” James said entering Barbara Stevens master bathroom. “Sir.” Officer Thomas said handing James a handwritten note in an evidence bag. ‘Five little monkeys jumping on the bed one fell off and spilled her blood.’ James looked down at Barbara Stevens naked body laying in the tub of water. Long slashes ran up her arms from her palm to her elbow on both arms.

Fuck…

Wednesday

“I may have found your connection.” Benjamin said dropping a file in front of James. “Are you going to elaborate or remain cryptic?” James asked opening the file. “Wait a minute these are sealed juvenile records. How did you get these?”

“Let’s just say I cashed in on a few overdue favors.” Benjamin said giving James a grinn. “OK, so what’s the connection?”

“Cindy Norton, Darrell Lane and Barbara Stevens were all residences of the same foster home from 1990-1998. One state funded and run by a Mrs. Olivia Davis.” Benjamin said leaning back in his chair.

Detective James Andrews and Detective Benjamin Knoles pulled up in front of a rundown two story townhouse out on the east side of town. James double checked the address, 2357 Parish Avenue East. Benjamin rang the doorbell, a faint buzz could be heard from behind the door. A few seconds later the door opened, with the chain still attached. “Yes, can I help you?” A younger looking lady in her late twenties asked.

“Yes, I’m Detective Knowls and this is Detective Andrews we have some questions for Mrs. Olivia Davis.” Benjamin said. “I am afraid Mrs. Davis passed away a few years ago. Maybe I can help you, I’m the director Miss Vivian Barnet. Hold on a sec let me get the door.” She closed the door sliding the chain lock open. “That’s better, won’t you come in.”

“Now how can I help you?” Miss Barnet asked taking a seat at her desk. “Would you happen to recognize any of these names?” James asked handing her a slip of paper. Vivian looked it over. “They sound familiar. If you give me a day or so I can pull the house records. I was a resident here in late 95 so I do remember Cindy vaguely. Let me sleep on it and find some photos and records.”

“That would be appreciated, thank you.” Benjamin said handing her his card.

As James entered the downtown precinct Officer Roberts held up a slip of paper. “Another one?” James asked. “Yes Sir, another one.” James took the slip of paper and headed back out to his car. He caught Benjamin’s eye and waved the slip of paper. “Another one?” Benjamin asked. “Yep.” James said getting back into the car.

“What do have?” James asked Officer Thomas. “Nicholas Barnes, 33, 6’2” 215 lbs. Found here in the men's restroom, deceased with his necktie tied tightly around his neck. Looks like he was strangled. Sir.” Officer Thomas said. James looked over the body. “Phone?” Officer Thomas handed him a cell phone in an evidence bag. James slipped on a pair of gloves, and took the phone out of the bag. He searched through the missed calls and voicemails. This time it was a text message; ‘Wednesday August 14th 2:45 pm Five little monkeys jumping on the bed one fell off and throttled himself.’

James’ phone buzzed across the nightstand. He reached out from under the comforter grabbing the phone. Benjamin flashed across the screen. James turned over and cleared his throat. “Do you know what time it is?” James asked. “Yes, it’s 1 am. I just got off the phone with Miss Vivian Barnet. She has quite a story to tell. Mind if I come by this may require a drink, or two.”

James poured two glasses of Scotch and handed one to Benjamin. “So what’s the story?” James asked lighting a cigarette. “Donald Scott was placed into foster care after his mother was murdered by an intruder in early 1993. Donald was 12 and his father wasn’t in the picture, he was also shy and small for his age. There was a group of kids in the foster house that picked on him, a lot like every day. This group had a ring leader by the name of Gregg Hunter, he was two years older than Donald and out weighed him by a good sixty pounds. Gregg, Nicholas, Barbra, Darrell and Cindy all tormented Donald.” Benjamin said finishing off his Scotch. “OK, that’s a start.” James said pouring another round.

“It gets better. Sometime in late 93 there was an incident. The foster house has a third floor attic that had been converted to an extra bedroom. In this room there is a small storage area in the wall, behind a hidden panel. One day during the daily teasing and tormenting, Gregg and his group put Donald into the crawl space. He was in there for over six hours, alone in a confined space, in the dark.”

“So have we found Donald Scott or Gregg Hunter yet?” James asked finishing his second Scotch. “Not yet. Miss Barnet wanted to know if you would like to see the storage space.”

James gave Benjamin a sideways look. “I suppose we could swing by in the morning.”

James crouched down looking into the small storage area. It was about four feet deep and three feet wide. He moved his flashlight around dust, spiderwebs and a dead mouse. James moved into the space looking at the walls, something caught his eye. Scratched into the wood were some words, moving closer James’ hand bumped something. It was a small keychain flashlight blue with faded white letters, he picked it up and pressed the button, a faint dim light flickered then went dead. The words scratched into the wood read; ‘Kill them ALL’

Thursday

“Sir, Gregg Hunter hasn’t been seen since Wednesday around 3:30 pm, according to his co-workers.” Officer Roberts said. “Keep trying his phone, maybe we’ll get lucky. Any word on Donald Scott?” James asked. “We found his home address but he keeps to himself and works from home. We haven’t found any family or acquaintances.”

Detective James Andrews and Detective Benjamin Knowles pulled up in front of a ranch style, single story house. “Quaint.” Benjamin said exiting the car. They knocked on the door. “Mr. Donald Scott?” James said as he tried the door. “Locked.” They walked around to the garage door. James leaned down and pulled up. “Also locked.” They made their way around to the back of the house, there was a door that lead into the kitchen. Benjamin turned the door handle. “Open.” he said. “Mr. Donald Scott, are you home?” Benjamin said entering the kitchen.

The kitchen was sparse and clean. James opened one of the cabinets, the few mugs and glasses were immaculately lined up side by side. They wandered through the dining room and into the living room. It was minimally furnished and sterile. The few pieces of art that were hung on the walls were abstracts with bold colors. As James and Benjamin made their way through the house they noticed a lack of any personal effects.

“Found it.” James called from the bedroom. “What?” Benjamin asked. “This.” James said pulling out an old ratty shoebox from the bottom shelf of the nightstand. They sat on the bed and flipped the box open. Jame picked up the black composition notebook and carefully thumbed through the pages. It was full of neat, clean block letter writing. Names, addresses, phone numbers and detailed notes on daily routines. Benjamin looked through the rest of the box, newspaper clippings, Polaroid photos and a few oddities towards the bottom of the shoebox. A silver charm bracelet, movie ticket stubs and a hand drawn mothers day card.

“These are daily notes on the five people from the foster home. He must have been tracking them for years.” James said. James’ phone buzzed.

“Yes.”

“Sir, we have a location on Gregg Hunter’s phone.” Officer Roberts said.

“Good send it to me.”

James and Benjamin parked across the street from the Oak Ridge Motel. Benjamin headed into the motel’s office. James lit a cigarette taking a deep drag. “Their in room 14.” Benjamin said coming back to the car. James finished his cigarette, reached over to the glove box retrieving his revolver. He exited the car and cleared his throat. “Let’s go.”

Benjamin knocked on the door to room 14. “Mr. Donald Scott?” James asked.

“Who wants to know?” a harsh male voice demanded from the other side.

“Detectives Andrews and Knowles, we have some questions for you concerning a Gregg Hunter.” James said.

“What about him?”

“Is he in there with you?”

“Yes, he’s here.”

“Is he still alive?” James asked.

There was a long pause.

“Donald? Is Gregg still alive?” Benjamin asked.

“Kinda.” Donald answered.

“Donald, this needs to stop. Open the door.” James ordered.

“But they need to be punished...the voice said. They must be punished.” Donald said, his voice cracking.

There was a commotion from behind the door. James and Benjamin entered room 14 just as Donald was pulling the blade across Gregg’s neck. Gregg was tied to a chair, blindfolded and gagged. With multiple bruises, lacerations and scratches along his face, neck and arms.

“Stop! Drop the knife. Put your hands on your head.” James ordered. Donald being startled by the door flinging open, glared at James’ gun. He dropped the knife and raised his arms. James moved towards Donald, handcuffing him and escorted him out of the motel.

“No, no, no, no...he won’t forgive me, they must be punished.” Donald cried as James put him into the backseat of the car. James lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

Fuck…

Alternative Rock and High Tops

The alarm clock clicked over to 6 am.

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo.

What the hell am I doing here?

I don't belong here.

I don't care if it hurts

I want to have control…

Filled the room, Susie reached out from under the dark, heavy comforter and smacked the snooze button. She sat up rubbing her eyes, her dark hair a twisted mess from not being able to get to sleep the night before. She stumbled out of bed and made her way to the shower.

“Whose bright idea was it to take a job that starts at the ass crack of dawn,”she mumbled as she turned the water to hot and waited for it to warm up.

~ ~ ~ ~

Susie ran a comb through her hair pulling it back into a ponytail, she brushed her teeth and gargled with some Listerine. She picked up a sheet of paper from her nightstand.

Dress Code for Seaside Shipping & Receiving

Dark Jeans clean with no holes or tears.

Issued collared work shirt, clean, pressed and tucked in.

No logos or advertising on undershirts, hats or jackets.

Long hair must be pulled back, no jewelry of any kind is to be worn.

Steel-toed work boots or shoes.

Susie glanced at herself in the mirror that hung on the back of her bedroom door. In her new jeans, work shoes and issued tan, short-sleeve work shirt, that nicely covered her black flag t-shirt.

“Good enough”

Grabbing an apple from the bowl of fruit on the kitchen table she got behind the wheel of her 87’ Honda Civic. The one that she had flipped buggers for an entire summer to afford, she cranked the key and it growled at her before turning over.

Susie walked into the employee entrance of Seaside Shipping & Receiving when a voice addressed her.

“Is this your first day?”

Susie turned to face the voice that came from a guy holding a clipboard and wearing an orange safety vest over his issued tan, short-sleeve work shirt.

“Yes,” she answered walking towards him.

“Good, I am Tim your safety supervisor, name?”

“Susie, Susanna Ridge,” she answered.

Tim ran his blue ballpoint pen down his clipboard.

“Yes, here you are, you are training with Ethan, follow me,” he led her over to the time clock, showed her where to find her badge and how to clock in and out.

“Your badge, your responsibility, if you lose it, it’s $2.00 to get a new one from Carol in payroll,”

They walked through the warehouse to the loading area, where a handful of other employees were waiting to get started.

Tim walked over to Ethan and gave him the clipboard, he nodded and said something Susie couldn’t quite hear to Tim. Ethan turned to face the gathering of eager bodies, he was good looking, tall, had broad shoulders and a nice smile.

“Good morning, we start at 7:30 sharp so don’t be late, It looks as if all of you are in dress code, which is for everyone’s safety, we work at a quick pace to get through all the trucks that are scheduled for the day, some days you will be unloading and other days you will be loading, so pay attention to your daily assignment sheet, which is here,” Ethan pointed to a bulletin board with three columns of papers tacked to it.

“You all are first shift, so you come over here and find your name, listed in alphabetical order by last name, you what’s your name?” Ethan asked looking at Susie.

“Ridge, Susanna,” she answered, giving him a slight smile.

“Ridge, Susanna,” he repeated running his finger down the list.

“Here you are, you are on dock 7 with me, unloading for today, so you find your name and it will tell you what dock and if your loading or unloading, got it, good moving on,”

Ethan finished going over the daily rules and regulations, everyone found their names and places. The work itself wasn’t that bad, bending, lifting, and sliding either into or out of a truck trailer. Susie was a little sore after her first day but it wasn’t flipping burgers so she was happy.

~ ~ ~ ~

It had been three weeks of loading, unloading, pushing and pulling box after box. Susie was getting into her car after picking up her first check when she saw Ethan and a girl that looked familiar, but she couldn’t place at the moment, they were having a discussion just out of earshot.

Susie sat in her car and watched them, the girl had short red hair, one of those pixie cuts and was wearing a light blue sundress with yellow flowers on it. Her arms kept waving up and down as she was talking to Ethan, he didn’t look to amused at whatever she was going on about. When she was done talking he gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek and she got into her car.

“Ok, then,”

Susie cranked the car over and drove to the bank, thinking that she would treat herself to a new Pearl Jam t-shirt at the mall.

As Susie was wandering through CD section of the Musicland store in the Edgewater Mall she caught Ethan out of the corner of her eye. She circled around and stood behind him.

“I didn’t think you listened to music?”

He turned to face her caught off guard.

“You, look almost normal not in uniform,” he said looking her over, in her worn, ripped, faded jeans, KMFDM t-shirt and no longer white high tops.

“So Bon Jovi? Really?” she asked looking at what he was holding.

“Yes, really, but I’m open to suggestions,”

She gave him a devilish smile and led him over to another section.

“Hum...lets see what I can conflict on your virgin ears,” she quickly picked through the bin labeled ‘Alternative Rock’

“Here you go,”

“Wow, ok then,” he flipped through the stack of CD’s.

Nirvana

Pearl Jam

The Smashing Pumpkins

Nine Inch Nails

Bush

“Not a bad selection, thanks,”

“So who’s the girl, with the pixy hair?” Susie asked as they wandered through the mall.

“That’s Amber,” he answered.

“And she is your…” she trailed off giving him a look.

“Girlfriend,”

“Aaa, wait Amber Jacobson?”

“Yeah, why?”

“She was in my lit class junior year, she was one of the ‘Britney, Tiffany, Amber’s’, click, isn’t she a little young for you? Wait how old are you?”

Ethan stopped walking.

“How old do you think I am?” he asked.

“I don’t know, 26 ish.”

“Not quite, I’ll be 22 on Saturday, hence the need for some music, Amber wants to have a party,”

“Well, in that case happy early birthday, can I buy you a frozen yogurt?” Susie asked pointing to TCBY’s.

“Sure, why not,”

They sat eating their frozen yogurt in waffle cones, in the Edgewater Mall food court.

“So why the shipping and receiving industry?” she asked.

“In the beginning it was to save up for school, but it turned into a full time position with benefits so I stayed, what about you?”

“It’s better than flipping burgers, I haven’t decided about school yet,”

Ethan got up and tossed their trash.

“Why don’t you come on Saturday,”

Susie gave him a sideways look.

“I don’t mix well with others,”

“Non-sense, come it’s my party and you are my guest,”

He grabbed a napkin from the dispenser, pulled a pen from his pocket and began writing.

“It’s 247 Lexington street, the small blue house with the..”

“With the carport,” she finished for him.

“Um..yeah, how did you know that?”

“I use to live there, and that’s how everyone describes it,”

“Small world,” he said handing her the napkin, she took it sliding it into the pocket of her jeans.

“Saturday at eight,” Ethan said as he headed towards the mall entrance.

~ ~ ~ ~

Susie sat outside of 247 Lexington street, she pushed the button on the radio that showed the time, 8:12 pm.

Might as well make an appearance. She mumbled as she gave herself a final look in the rear-view mirror. She reached over and opened the glovebox, rummaging around she found the slim pink tube of lip gloss, pulled out the wand and rolled it over her lips. She pressed them together and gave a little smack towards the mirror.

The front door to the small blue house was open and Bon Jovi’s Bed of Roses could be heard coming from the living room. Susie entered the house, people were scattered throughout, drinking, smoking and talking.

She made her way through the living room and into the back bedroom, as she opened the door and made her way into the small bedroom. Memories from the last time she had been there came flooding back, it had to have been at least five years ago. She made her way to the small closet, slid open the pocket door and looked inside.

“Looking for something?” Ethan said coming into the room.

“Sorta, I wanted to see if something was still here,”

“Ok, my curiosity is peaked, what are we looking for?” he said joining her in the doorway of the closet.

“This,” Susie said running her fingers over a row of doodles on the inside of the closet.

“Hold on,” he walked over to the dresser and found a small pen light.

“Got this from the 7-11 for my keychain,” he turned the light on and shined it on the row of doodles.

“I can’t believe these are still here,”

Ethan stood behind her holding the pen light over her shoulder, he moved closer to her. A shiver ran down Susie’s back and she closed her eyes for a second, feeling the warmth of his body next to hers.

“Am I interrupting something?” a high pitched female voice asked.

Ethan moved out of the closet doorway and into the bedroom.

“No,” he said moving towards Amber.

Amber caught sight of Susie as she moved out of the closet.

“What is she doing here?”

Susie started moving towards the door, Ethan reached out stopping her, grabbing her arm.

“She is my guest, it’s my party and my house, if you have a problem with that you can leave,”

Amber scoffed.

“Whatever,” she said leaving the bedroom.

“You didn’t need to do that,” Susie said.

“Yeah, I did,” Ethan said taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

“It’s weird being in this room again,” she said standing in front of him.

Ethan leaned forward and brushed her hair away from her face. He slid his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her to him. He gently pressed his lips to hers, she moved closer to him and kissed him back.

Susie smiled and took a step back.

“Strawberry?”

“Yeah,”

She moved toward the door, Ethan stood up and kissed her again.

“Thanks for stopping by,” he said.

“I’ll see you on Monday, you know at work,” she said turning and walking out the door.

Susie made her way out of the house and to her 87’ Honda Civic, she opened the door and sat behind the wheel. Waiting for her heart to stop pounding in her ears, she glanced in the rear-view mirror her cheeks were a bright shade of pink.

She started the car, and pushed play on the CD player.

Must be your skin that I'm sinking in

Must be for real 'cause now I can feel

And I didn't mind

It's not my kind

It's not my time to wonder why

Everything's gone white

And everything's grey…

Started playing as she drove home.

~ ~ ~ ~

Susie awoke from a very vivid dream involving Ethan. She looked over at the clock 5:58 am.

“Fuck,” she flipped the alarm off, got up and made her way to the shower.

She had tried not to think about it, about him, about how the butterflies were fluttering around in her stomach, while she was trying to get ready for work.

Susie had, had other boyfriends, she had dated gone to parties, the movies, or just hung-out. Although thinking about it now it had been awhile. It was shortly after High School graduation that her and Nate had called it off. Then she was working all the hours she could to afford her car and the time had just slipped away.

She stood in front of her mirror looking over her appearance in her mandatory work clothes. She picked up the slim glass tube of strawberry lip gloss and ran the wand over her lips. Then rubbing them together and giving a little smack to the air.

~ ~ ~ ~

The end of Blur’s Song 2 was blaring away through her speakers as she pulled into the parking lot of Seaside Shipping & Receiving and found a parking spot. She shut the engine off, there was a tap on her window.

“Jesus Christ, don’t do that, you scared the fuck out me,” she said as she opened her car door and got out.

“Sorry, and good morning to you too,” Ethan said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Ok, so we're doing this now?” she asked.

“Doing what?” Ethan smiled at her as he asked.

“Your going to make me ask, aren’t you?”

Ethan gave her a sideways look of confusion.

“What about Amber?” she asked.

“Oh that,”

“Oh my God, yes that,”

“Well she left me a lovely message on Sunday morning, where she listed what was wrong with me and why she was no longer wanting to continue our relationship,”

“How diplomatic of her,” Susie said moving closer to Ethan leaning in and kissing him.

“Mmm...strawberry,” he said as they walked into work.

~ ~ ~ ~

During lunch break Ethan was standing behind Susie as she waited to get a soda from the vending machine in the employee break room.

“So I have a secret,” he said in a whisper.

“Really, are you going to share it with me?” she asked back in a whisper.

Ethan grinned and slid his hand around her side as she dropped sixty-five cents into the vending machine and pushed the root beer button.

“I like to cook, and I was wondering if you would like to come to dinner tonight?”

Susie turned to face him as she opened her root beer, she took a sip thinking over his proposal.

“Depends on what you're planning on making,” she answered walking over to a table and sitting down.

Ethan got himself a Sprite and joined her at the table.

“I was going to go with spaghetti and meatballs, if that works for you,”

She smiled at him. “That works for me,” she said giving his hand a quick squeeze.

~ ~ ~ ~

I'm so happy because today

I've found my friends

They're in my head

I'm so ugly, but that's okay, 'cause so are you

We've broken our mirrors…

Nirvana’s Lithium flowed through the house as Susie knocked on the door of 247 Lexington street.

Ethan opened the door.

“Come in,”

Susie entered the house.

“It smells good,” she said as she took a seat at the kitchen table.

“Thanks, so I have dark or light for drinks,” Ethan held out a bottle of A&W Cream Soda and a bottle of Cherry 7up.

“I’ll take the cherry, cream soda is more of a dessert beverage,”

“Good call,” Ethan poured two glasses over ice and set them on the table. He dished up and served the spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread.

As they were enjoying their dinner the music changed from Nirvana to The Smashing Pumpkins.

“You have a CD changer in your stereo?” Susie asked.

“Yeah it holds five CD’s, I have it set on shuffle,”

“Nice, what all do you have in there now?”

“Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Bush, Pearl Jam and Queen,”

“Who’s shirt do you have on?”

“This is Soundgarden, we’ll have to broaden your collection a little more,”

~ ~ ~ ~

After dinner Susie helped Ethan do the dishes and clean up the kitchen.

“Thanks, you didn’t need to do that,” he says sliding his arms around her.

“I know, I wanted to,” she leaned in kissing him.

“Shall we take this somewhere more comfortable?”

“Yes,” she answered kissing him again.

Can anybody find me somebody to love

Ooh, each morning I get up I die a little

Can barely stand on my feet

(Take a look at yourself) Take a look in the mirror and cry (and cry)

Lord what you're doing to me (yeah yeah)...

Started playing as they entered the bedroom.

Susie kicked off her high tops and sat on the edge of the bed. Ethan stood in front of her, he pulled his shirt off over his head, letting it fall to the floor. Susie got up on her knees and ran her hand along his bare chest.

He reached behind her head and gently pulled the elastic band from her hair, letting her hair fall over her shoulders. She took off her t-shirt and bra, then laid back on the bed, he joined her kissing her neck and running his hands over her breasts.

She kissed him, enjoying the feeling of his hand on her body. Then reality set in.

“Can we just take a minute,” she said sitting up and moving away from him.

“Yeah,” he said handing her, her shirt.

She slipped it on and sat cross legged on the bed. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

“Susie, it’s ok,” Ethan said touching the back of her hand.

“We don’t have to do this, I like you, I enjoy hanging out with you and I would like to get to know you better,”

She opened her eyes and looked at him.

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” he answered kissing her on the cheek.

“How about dessert and a movie?” he asked putting on his shirt.

She smiled at him.

“Depends what’s for dessert?’

“Well I have a bottle of cream soda and vanilla ice cream, so I was thinking floats,”

“Sounds good, so what kinda movie collection do you have?” She asked as they left the bedroom.

“Let’s see...I have Bram Stoker's Dracula or The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” Ethan said holding up the VHS’s.

“Hum...horror and sex or psycho revenge story, let’s go with Dracula,” Susie said making herself comfortable on the couch.

“Ok,” Ethan said sliding the tape into the VCR and pushing play.