Ravens

Von ran across the field, looking back over her shoulder, scanning the sky behind her. There was a swarm of black dots in the sky and they were getting closer and larger. Her breathing was strained and her heart was pounding loudly. Another glace behind and the dots were much bigger and sprouting wings. It was an unkindness of ravens and they were zeroing in on Von.

She turned back forward and gave it all she had, her trench coat flailing as she churned her legs. Another glance; they were almost on her. She felt her body buffeted as the ravens attacked. Claws dug into the fabric of her trench coat and, beaks pecking. They were all over her. she swatted at them to no avail. The claws were gouging into her skin. She unfastened the belt of her trench coat and tore it open dropping it along with the birds as she streaked away, in more ways than one. She forgot that under the trench coat she was naked.

Copyright 2015 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.

Fire

At some level everyone knows they are going to die. Some people it keeps awake at night and some it keeps in their house and hidden away from the rest of the world. Then there are those, usually young people, who all but deny this simple truth. The thought of our own mortality is more of an abstract concept for people. It's like a faraway country that you have never been to, but have heard a few people talk about; you know it is there, but you just don't have a solid, concrete, grasp of it.

 I think part of the reason for that is the uncertainty of it all. No, not that it will happen, but when it will happen. You read stories of people waking up, getting ready for work, having breakfast, kissing the wife or husband goodbye and then while driving to work a piece of pipe comes loose from a plumbing truck ahead of them on the freeway and before they even have a moment to register what is happening, a lead pipe has gone through their windshield and through their brain. A fraction of a second and a normal day is the last day on earth.

 I am jealous of those people. Their uncertainty regarding death never metamorphosed into something else, something darker and wetter. Something that slithers around you and crawls up your leg, nips at your neck and breathes hot and wet into your ear. Ah, to be one of the uncertain; how I wish.

 I know when I am going to die. I have already seen my last sight. My last smell is that of the urine flowing down my legs. My last taste is the bile coming up from my stomach, and my last sound, well next to last sound, is the Commander of the squad yelling, "Fire!"

Copyright 2015 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.

Self-Destruct

After the love of my life died, my world just seemed to self-destruct. My friends tried to help me stay afloat, to keep a positive attitude, but they were of no help. They said all the wrong things without knowing it. How could they not? None of them had any idea that I had killed her.

Copyright 2015 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.

The House

I’ve always hated my brother, but his insistence on demolishing Mom and Dad’s home has really upped the tension between us. Neither of us would move from our entrenched positions. Now that they are both gone, Kerry thinks we can maximize our profits by tearing down their house and putting up something more suited to the upscale neighborhood. My counter has always been that we all grew up in that house, Mom died in it and that was where we all lived when our sister, Lisa, went missing. The memories far outweighing any financial gain.

Now he has forged my signature on an agreement with a contractor and they are scheduled to demolish the house today. I had to get there first. But when I turned the corner onto Third Avenue, the flashing lights halfway up the block told me I was too late.

They had found her.

You have to understand, I never meant to hurt her. I loved Lisa. She was my baby sister, a pain in my ass, then a blossoming young woman. Don’t you dare judge me! I’m not interested in your shocked surprise or your outdated morals. I loved my sister, in every way a man can love a woman…and she loved me back. 

Things started to go south when Lisa became pregnant. I couldn’t understand how that could happen; we always used protection. I wanted her to abort the child but she wanted to keep it. She wanted us to move out of state and live as husband and wife, but hell, she was only sixteen.

Then one day she told me that she had retrieved my used condoms and had inseminated herself. She wanted my baby, she wanted us to be together and wanted to force the issue. I was furious and slapped her, just trying to show my displeasure, only, I hit her too hard and she fell and hit her head. It was an accident damn it!

I wrapped her in a plastic tarp, took her out to the desert and buried her, along with our love letters.  That seemed to be the end of it. She was a missing persons…still is. Life went on.

My brother has the same blue eyes as Lisa. It only made me hate him more.

A few years later we had that 100-year storm. The basement flooded and didn’t drain right. Water pooled in the corners and one of the walls partially collapsed. Kerry was gone by then and Dad’s stroke had left him immobilized. I offered to fix the basement; relay the floor and repair the wall. No one saw me when I made Lisa’s tomb in the wall or when I brought her remains back from the desert. I needed an insurance policy, so I fabricated new love letters.

I had wanted to be here when they found her and the letters and see the look on Kerry’s face as they put him in cuffs and hauled his sorry ass away.

Copyright 2015 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.

Bad Timing

“Captain to the bridge.”

Kirk rolled off of Yeoman Rand and walked over to the intercom, the sweat dripping down his naked body. He punched the button, “On my way Mr. Spock.”

He glanced back at Janice Rand and chuckled, “My Science Officer has the worst timing in Star Fleet.”

Copyright 2015 Barry Keller. All rights reserved.