I’m writing this journal to collect my thoughts and leave a record for my children, so they can understand why I’ve taken these actions. Because, when all’s said and done, everything I do is to protect my family and to make sure they have a home to come back to […]
My neighbour is a monster. He must be stopped Read More »
Summer nights in the small college town were something straight out of a Pulp magazine: a risqué combination of nostalgia, science fiction and impossible stories. Every year from May to August, the place was left largely empty due to the legion of students who had skipped town for the break.
Dak and Chadwick each lit up a smoke and cracked their windows, the excitement of a good day fishing warming their spirits despite the cold wind that suddenly filled the cab of Chadwick’s truck. The sporadic raindrops that began to fall as they left the river pooled in the road
Wrong Turn On Light Road Read More »
Wind blew across the dunes as the Sun bore down on the desert sands. Three men staggered across the parched earth, mildly delirious from dehydration and hunger. Sergeant McKay squinted his eyes toward an object far off in the distance. “Corporal Langley, do you see something up ahead, or are
I am out of time. I have to tell all of you before it is too late. For weeks it has been following me everywhere and now it is here, in this very room. I don’t know where, it can be in the closet, under the bed or under the
The Looming Person Read More »
The chill was the first thing I found odd. Florida was notorious for having unreasonably humid summers and this one had been no exception. More often than not, when the air conditioner wasn’t running, sun streaming in through the windows was enough to skyrocket the apartment into the eighties. I’d
Inside, There Was Nothing Read More »
I don’t remember the first time I heard the tapping. As far as I know, it’s been there all my life. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been stirred awake a couple of times a month, still hazy with sleep and delirious with dreams to an almost imperceptible
Tapping at My Chamber Door – Only This and Nothing More Read More »
About a month ago I wrote a blog post upon the recommendation of my therapist. During the prior few sessions I had been recounting some troubling occurrences from my childhood. These were events that, for years, I vowed to be true despite urgings from the few close to me that
Happy’s Nightmares Read More »
It all started after I had that damned panic attack. I am a calm person by nature, always have been. Small stuff never bothered me, even while driving. And I certainly had never been so negatively affected by something that I had a breakdown like that. Of all the places
Something is Coming to Get Me Read More »
For as long as I can remember, there has been a man in my bedroom window. It seems strange to say, I know, but it is true. From the earliest, fuzziest memories I have all the way up to now, he’s been there. Looking at me. In my first memories
The Man In My Bedroom Window Read More »
I enjoy running quite a bit. It might come off as a bit odd to say, but it really is important to me. I found my love for it back in high school, when I ended up drifting aimlessly onto the cross country track teams. Joining was less of an
Biting At My Heels Read More »
Driving down the road far from home, on my way back from work – I’m surrounded by pastures and rural country houses. Late in the night, dark but backlit by a pale moon I drive fast, but not too fast. I’m tired. The day’s work has pushed me over the
My name is Harley, and I’ve been with my boyfriend Dan for five years, lived with him for three. I love Dan more than anything in this world. He’s my best friend, my partner in crime, my biggest pest, and my number one supporter. I honestly couldn’t imagine my life
My Boyfriend’s Dreams Are Starting to Scare Me Read More »
I can’t stand to be back here. This tiny, rural town I grew up in, it makes my skin crawl to see everything around me. I’m well into middle-age now, but it’s like this town has been frozen in time since I was a teenager. And the older I get,
The Wolves of These Frozen Woods Read More »
I grew up in a tiny town in Vermont. Tiny in terms of population, not size—there were huge sprawling farms and wooded areas, but almost no people. More cows than people, which is standard for a lot of small towns in Vermont. So, clearly, not the most fun in the
The Thing That Will Kill Me Read More »
The worst thing I’ve ever done in my life happened about twelve years ago, when I was a sixteen-year-old kid living in Cleveland, Ohio. It was the early fall, when the leaves were just starting to turn orange and the temperatures were starting to fall, hinting at the freezing chill that was only a few months away. School had just started, but it had been going on for about a month now, so all the excitement of going back and reuniting with old friends had been replaced by the realization that we were captives in a place that only wanted to load work upon us. Understandably, my friends and I were all eager to do anything that might remind us of the worry-free, responsibility-free days of summer.
I am currently sitting in front of my computer, scared witless. Any moment now I am going to be killed. Today a friend of mine told me a story. His aunt had taken care of him since he was a small boy, and she told him last night about how
I was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder when I was five. I have always struggled to interact with people because of this disorder, spending large amounts of time attempting to fix imperfections around me. I would lash out harshly at people around me if they touched me or my things, and
Did you know that, once introduced to routine, our brains are capable of accepting it to the extent that when something changes, it doesn’t notice? The change could be small and harmless, an object there that wasn’t, or something moved to another room that you would normally duck around on
The Hallway Wasn’t Empty Read More »
“What the hell is her problem?” I thought to myself as I sat in my cubicle. Angela, one of my co-workers, was staring at me. More accurately, she was gawping at me. At my face. I wanted to scream at her, flip my desk over and demand what the fuck
Why Do People Keep Staring at My Face? Read More »
We’d been doing civics for the past month. I was teaching second grade at Witherspoon Elementary, struggling to teach the meaning of Gettysburg and the Battle of Princeton to a bunch of eight year-olds, especially without giving a diatribe about the evils of slavery and making them bring that shit
I noticed it almost immediately. The phenomenon began one day while I was still an undergrad in college. My alarm went off, and I grudgingly let it ring for few seconds before ending it, yanking the covers off my body, and pulling myself out of bed. I had only gotten
“I don’t want to talk. Really. I just want to go to bed,” she said, taking out her earrings. She hustled by him without making eye contact, tossed the mail on the dresser, and lightly brushed him away. He reflexively glanced at the scattered envelopes. Bills. What’s that one from
The Spider in the Bed Read More »
Iron. Pure metal. Warm. Wet. Blood. A sharp, intense pain surged through my face as my brain slammed against the unforgiving strength of my skull. As the metallic taste of my own body fluid filled my mouth, I attempted to reopen my vigorously locked eyes. What? Eyelids finally reopening, they
