Imaginations

With unrelenting sorrow, the man quietly laid down in his hole. His world seemed to unravel before him, and before long, he could not tell reality from fantasy. Imaginations ran wild, convincing him of that which likely didn't exist. Shovels above heaped dirt upon his body. The weight of it held him down as he…

Communion

With a sharp carving knife, the pastor sliced off a thick slab of the terrified man's calf as he screamed in agony. "Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, 'Take; eat; this…

The Goat

The discomfort she felt was not a result of his touch or even the overly tight metal restraints that cut into her flesh. It wasn't even that she had been tortured for days upon the slab, unable to move. These were all traumas, to be sure, but nothing was as unsettling as the goat that…

Democracy

The young girl hid in her bedroom closet on the second floor, shaking at the rising noises coming from outside her house. Her parents had gone out to dinner that night; they should’ve returned more than two hours ago. She heard her neighbors screaming as they were dragged from their home by the angry mob.…

Opposing Camps

Rising up from their graves, a mass of zombies driven by a pang of hunger, not for flesh, but of impulse, makes its way to the land they once called home. In hoards, the undead militia descended upon the city as memory fragments drove them to take back what once was theirs. The zombies that…

Leading Fear

"Everyone is afraid of something, but collectively, those fears feed into each other. What you have to do is to tap into that fear and cultivate it in such a way that it grows exponentially, but you have to feed the fears in both camps so that they each develop a blind loyalty to their…

Encouragement

"Well," a gravelly voice said, "are you gonna do it?" “I…I don’t rightly know,” replied a shakey timid voice. “Well, it’s not going to do it on its own. Why don’t you let me help?” “No, no, I’ve got this,” said the second person as they pressed the scalpel into their wrist.

Pretty Woman

Her skin was like cream, milky, and smooth. Her beautiful hair was painted a deep red that only seemed to accentuate and define her features. A floral scarf hung gently around her neck, barely concealing fresh shades of blue. Mark's hands trembled, and his breath shook erratically. She wasn't real, he continued to tell himself…

Madness

He couldn't breathe as pain and panic engulfed his entire being. His throat seemed to close in on itself. It was dry, and he began choking. Thoughts swirled in his brain as the terror took hold, and he curled up onto the bed. He lay there alone as he drifted off into sleep.

New House

January 17, 2011 It was a sunny spring afternoon. I had recently come into possession of a house in the woods on the outskirts of town. It wasn't too far from my current living situation, so it was easy to go find. I made my way over in my '89 RS Camaro with the T-tops…