"Ascension, Descension", for Dennis

Almost every night, they come for me. 

When I can sleep, I wake to see the pulsing blue light. 

Everything is a nightmarish blur. 

The weightlessness. 

The disorienting pain. 

My days are filled with crawling dread.

Waiting, waiting, waiting, for their return. 

I can do nothing else. 

I cannot escape. 

Time runs away and I cannot find it again. 

Hours, days, and weeks disappear. 

I wake up screaming on the cold steel apparatus; their black watery eyes staring down without pity. 

They put things under my skin.

The itching, the burning, the buzzing in my ears... they never fade. 

During the day, there are ice baths and electric shocks.

I had hoped that after moving to the hospital they would leave me alone. 

It seems they're only more obsessed. 

Pills, knives, guns, and rope have never stopped them. 

I die, then wake up screaming after every attempt; the smell of antiseptic and ozone hanging on my body. 

End.

Notes: This story is my first attempt to write a horror story that is scary when read both from top down, and from the bottom line back to the first. It takes on a different meaning when read backwards, and I'll let you decide which is more terrifying, if either.

"The Sphinx and I", for Tosha

She had black hair, thick glasses, and always spoke in riddles. I was spellbound from the first. 

It become obvious something was different about her on that hot Indian summer afternoon in our collegiate library. I don't know if it was the rushing wind or the stress from midterms but we couldn't focus on our books between the fawning caresses and stolen glances. 

We waited until the library was half empty and snuck deep into the stacks to be together. 

As I entered her for the first time, she transformed into a lioness. Not literally you understand, that didn't come until later. But before I went to bed that evening, I used half a cup of peroxide tending to the bites and scratches on my neck, back, and shoulders. 

Laying awake with the cool breeze sweeping in through my open window, I tried to reconcile her bookish persona to that wild animal I worshipped in the library.

End. 

For William, "The Following is a Notice From the State Parks and Game Department"

Hello spring breakers! As you are traveling south for your weekend in the Big Easy, be sure to heed the following safety tips:

• Keep several spare tires in your vehicle along with tools and extra gasoline. 
• Pack a satellite phone, CB radio, and extra power for all of your backup forms of communication. 
• Please do not hassle rest stop attendants, everyone is having a rough time in this economy, particularly small business owners. 
• Detours and shortcuts of every kind are ill-advised.
• Do not approach seemingly abandoned shacks, shanties, or cabins.
• Do not get high and have sex in the swamp. Period.
• Be aware of your surroundings at all times.
• Beware of giant snakes, bats, opossums, and other such natural predators. 
• If you stumble upon a moonlit ceremony, do not antagonize the voodoo cult devotees.
• Finally, please do not feed the alligator people.

Thank you for reading this statement and as always, enjoy your vacation and stay safe!

End.

The Ballad of the Mustache Man

Once there was a man who just wasn't sure if his mustache was long enough. So he grew it out even more. He brushed it, and waxed it, and ate just the right foods, all in order to keep his facial hair in peak condition. His mustache was soon legendary on the facial hair contest circuit, known throughout as the longest and brightest handlebar anyone had ever seen. It was longer than three tall men, and he had to keep it wrapped safely around his shoulders like a scarf when he wasn't showing it off. 

One sunny spring afternoon, while sitting in the highest room of his shared Victorian home in upstate New York, the man was enjoying a book and letting his mustache flap lavishly in the breeze. Suddenly, he felt a mighty tug on his golden, braided mustache. It really hurt, and brought a tear to his eye. 

Leaning his head out of the window, he was shocked to see a LARPer in full period regalia, trying desperately to climb his mustache like a rope. "I will save you fair maiden!" Shouted the socially inept knight. 

"Dude! That's my freaking mustache!" Yelled the man, but his voice cracked because of the fierce pain in his face. 

In a desperate search to end his agony, the man grabbed his vintage typewriter and dropped it out of the tower. It smashed into the knight's decorative helm, crushing his skull and ending his virginal existence. Fortunately, as the LARPer fell over from the blunt force, his home-smithied battle-ready sword flew from his hand and chopped the mustache man's gorgeous lip-braids to a reasonable length, barely missing his nose.

At that very moment, everyone in their general area of upstate New York suddenly felt much happier for seemingly no reason. 

The end. 

For Kendall, "Almost", Project 157

As he awoke for the first time, the creature found a note in his giant paw. It read: 

“Hi. Your name is Furry, and you are a golem. You are my first living creation and I honestly have no idea what you’ll be like. I hope you are nice, but in case you aren’t, I’ll be far away by the time you are reading this. Regardless, I'm sure things will work out, and I hope you like existing. 

Love - Tawkin H., Alchemist Renowned."

Now, after years of searching, Furry was afraid.

Mere yards into the cavern, he turned and walked out; and pretty darn quickly for a creature of his size. Maybe he could look for his father on the southern islands again. He loved the salty smell of the sea and the way the water felt in his coat.

He never realized how close he'd come to a certain terrified alchemist hiding in the darkness.

End.

So I Guess I'm Doing This Again

What a jumbled up wreck of pros and cons this whole adult thing has turned out to be
Wrestling competing priorities, identities, every new financial crises
Trying to balance my family, faith, friends, things, and personalities
And I love Jesus, but more like a lover would
Meaning passionately and in bursts, and then I want my space
I thought I was over this whole finding myself thing
But I'm learning there's much more to this existential crisis
For example I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up
So far, I don't think I really like being so responsible
There are definitely times where I would rather be out
Also, I refuse to believe that I'm supposed to spend my entire life evangelizing
Seems like I could run around the whole time and not see the forest for the trees
And miss out on the whole birds and the bees thing
And miss out on the whole old-earth bigger picture of our relationship to the universe
And dismiss whole communities of people that I would otherwise never meet
I know my mom would probably flip out if she were to read this
But honestly, I'm scared shitless this short life is all I get
That heaven is all around us, and I better just get into it
Before the big take-backsies of all my matter and my energy
Shouldn't I bet with the house and make the most out of what evidence insists exists?
Then just be really happy and blown away if when we die there's more?
Seems like that's the way to go, yah know?
Live fast, die old, and be passionate and loving
Be present, be open, and be excited about each new thing
Deal best as I can with everything life throws at me
And be super fucking grateful that I get to share this whole adult thing with you

End.

Twenty Somethings

I've cut myself adrift
Part of me has had to disconnect
To make it through the day-to-day
Push down urges, watch TV
Keep things numb and easy
Grind the grind, payday comes slow
Keeping my nose to the grindstone
Dreams pushed back, pushed back
More realistic realities set in
Briefcases and keyboards
Replace ideas and imaginings
Mondays and eight to fives
Replace late night wild storms
Adult life comes on slowly
It sinks in like sleeping
As I begin the metamorphosis
Into a young professional
A career-committed normal
Kill time like jackrabbit drives
My creativity slows to a crawl
My poetry becomes dull
I act like it's a heavy burden to lift
But I find it easy to disconnect

End.

Wow, that was kind of bleak.