The Bad Dream

---

             The sky looked like a blue backdrop where the thundering jets had painted pictures telling a story of beauty. Then the ugly happened. Someone was laying in the road next to the curb in front of the car. The car pulled out anyway and ran over the body. Then the body wasn't there when I looked back. I felt them seeing me see them. I wondered what they would do.

             I felt them watching as night came. It's just a matter of time, I thought, as I trudged down the road. I watched each passing car with a thought deafening dread that it would be them.

             The lights in the distance were moving toward me more slowly than the others. Somehow I knew it was them. The instant the lights struck me they went out.

             I tried to hide behind a big oak stump and a telephone pole. The car crept by, they were watching me. I was alone on the dark road. A thousand needles were pricking the back of my neck. It was not cold but I felt a chill. I was outside a tall fence but I knew the safety it held inside could not easily escape to help me. All I could do was wait for their return.

             I thought about building a house with a metal roof. We would stay in it from time to time. We could hear the rain hitting the roof, sounding good and almost sad like it did when we were children. I could hear the dogs barking in the distance.

             I thought of New Orleans. The streets were full of people. There was a tall board fence and a vacant lot on Bourbon Street no less. The guys came from nowhere and attacked Randy. Then one attacked me. The police came we stopped fighting, our attackers ran away. Witnesses told the police we were not the ones who started the fight it was the other guys. They believed us.

             They're coming back! Wake up!

---

Copyright © 1994 Charles Prier

Click Here to E-Mail your Comments

Back to homepage