“Playmates”

As Judith went about preparing the evening meal, a slight movement in the back yard caught her eye. Setting the three plates down on the counter, she peered out the window, but, whatever she’d seen had either run away, or, perhaps, had just been leaves swirling in the breeze. She began to turn away and caught yet another glimpse of movement. It appeared as though she’d seen an arm rise quickly into the air and fall, just as quickly, behind the tree where Sarah liked to hide her invisible friends. Judith held her gaze upon the tree, hoping to catch sight of whatever it was that had caught her eye. Then, a burst of wind tossed a fold of material into the air. It was the blanket which Sarah had begged for so that her make-believe playmate, Mrs. Bradford would not be cold.
Relieved, Judith turned away and set the plates on the table.

“You’re not in Chicago anymore, lady. Retract your sensors a bit….. really!”

She picked up the empty plastic lettuce bag which had lain on top of her cell phone, just as the blinking ‘call’ light stopped.

Beyond her kitchen window a face appeared, peeking slowly from behind a tree, at the edge of the Freeman’s property line along the woods. The expressionless eyes locked onto the kitchen window from which Judith had, only moments before, walked away. They studied the house carefully, as if waiting for someone to emerge; as if waiting for a playmate.

“Strangers No More”

Stabler and Burton alternated between casting disbelieving glances at each other, to scanning the area with questioning eyes; hoping to see anything that might convince them they were not losing their minds. It was Burton, who spoke first.

“All right. This isn’t so damn funny anymore. People don’t just vanish into thin air.”

Stabler continued to search, cautiously kicking aside stones, desperately eager to discover any type of clue which might explain the strange occurrence they had just witnessed.

“What are you doing?” Burton demanded.

Looking at his new friend, Stabler said; “You’re right. People don’t just vanish into thin air. There could be a hidden sinkhole or something…..”
Burton wasn’t buying it.

“What? A sinkhole? Stabler…..they wouldn’t answer us when we called to them…..they wouldn’t wait up for us…..they didn’t even know we were here, man! There ain’t no sinkhole! Those probably weren’t even real people we just saw. There ain’t nothin’ in this Godforsaken place but two sorry-assed soldiers who are getting’ nowhere real fast!”
The two men glared at each other, until Stabler asked; “You done now?”

“All Night Diner”
As he stood before the terrified Sheila, he cast a loathsome look upon Jackie, as if she had served her purpose and was no longer needed.
“Now we come to you, the whimpering one.”

Sheila reacted instantly, upon being addressed by the frightful man. She buried her face in her hands, fearing the fate which was about to befall her.

“Look at me.” He demanded.

Sheila tried, but, was unable to raise her head to establish eye contact. Deep Throat roughly grabbed her chin and lifted it, causing the badly frightened woman to cry out in a shrill voice.

“No, no…..please don’t hurt me?”

He spoke slowly to her.

“No one will hurt you…..as long as you answer my questions truthfully.”
He paused, allowing Sheila’s sobbing to abate, before continuing.
“I think you know what I’m about to ask you, don’t you?”

Without verbally responding, Sheila nodded her head rapidly, up and down.

“Well…..do you?

An unavoidable gasp from across the diner caused Deep Throat to turn toward the source of the sound. He observed Cindy putting her hand to her mouth, as if something she’d seen had caused her dismay.

He turned back and took a step backward, casting a downward glance at Sheila. The front of her jeans had turned a dark color, which spread outward and partially down both legs. The unmistakable odor of urine provided further evidence that the horror-struck woman had lost control of her bladder.


“Beyond The Limit”

As he approached the grave of his wife, Henry noticed that the ground had been disturbed in front of the stone. The freshly bought red rose which he’d left there yesterday was missing from the top of the base, which Henry used as a shelf, to place his daily gift for the woman he loved so deeply.

Standing before the stone, Henry comforted himself with the thought that, at least, whoever had turned over so many stones had spared this one. It wasn’t until he stepped behind the grave that Henry realized Agnes’s grave site had not been spared from the vandalism. Several beer cans were arranged together, as if placed there intentionally. An unmistakable odor of urine arose from the ground and Henry wasn’t sure if someone had urinated into the cans, or, on the stone.

Then, his eyes were drawn to the wording on the back of the stone. To the right of the blank space after the word ‘died’ on Henry’s line, someone had used a permanent black marking pen to draw a skull and crossbones, after first entering in the word ’soon’ in the space before it. Henry displayed no outward emotion as he contemplated the chilling message. It wasn’t until his eyes dropped to the additional scrawl underneath Agnes’s name and life dates that his emotion began to show.

“A Life Recovered”

Fighting off the urge to sidle close to the man beside her, she remembered reading his file, which indicated he’d been married to the same woman for thirty years. Cailin wondered silently, if that marriage was still a happy one. Maybe she could find out.

“So, how does your wife feel about you spending all this time away from her?”

Without taking his eyes off the small path before him, Rick answered; “Mandy? She’s used to it. I’m actually the one who has the problem with it.”

This wasn’t exactly what Cailin wanted to hear.

“And what might your problem be?”

Casting a quick glance in her direction, Rick replied; “I miss her terribly when I have to be away for an extended time. I used to be able to spend two or three weeks away with no problem. Now, I miss her after a day.”
Knowing that those words effectively ended any chance of a relationship with this handsome, older man, Cailin ended the conversation with the oft-spoken words of a woman who graciously accepts an unrequited love.
“She’s a very lucky woman.”