It happened all at once. It happened gradually. When the rains came with the winds of unease, they stood tall, freeing themselves from the burden of want or care. When they stormed her shores charging full-speed ahead, they waved stolen feathers from a peace dove.
The holidays left Paige stir-crazy and craving stimulation, something besides the mindless chatter spewing from the living-room television. Stepping outside, she inhaled the winter air, the sensation foreign to her lungs as she coughed and sat down on the old wooden porch swing. Pine needles swept across her feet and she shivered, rubbed her hands…
Humidity strangled the air as Paige stepped out into the damp morning. Shades of gray coated the sky as she observed the tall skinny pines, their tired limbs droopy and weighed down by gathering crows. Guess the sun called in sick, she thought, tossing her sack lunch onto the backseat. Letting the engine warm before…
Professor Faraday was right on time when he made his way to the front of the class. He always hated the first day of a new semester. It was him aim to skip through all the course overview nonsense and get on with the actual lecture. Get down to the meat and potatoes, his dad…
By the time Paige arrived home that evening, her brain buzzed with speculation. Allison worked in the kitchen preparing dinner while Justin read a book on the back porch sipping coffee in his robe and slippers. Paige wondered if he ever dressed for the day. Opening the sliding glass door, she sat down beside him…
Fresh puddles covered the ground as Paige stepped out into the cold and into the yellow glow from the streetlights. Snow loomed heavy in the clouds as she admired the raindrops glistening in the night on the sharp green pine needles. Inhaling the crisp air, she filled her car with the last supply of gas…
Covered in a black veil, Houston mirrored an invisible city after an aurora borealis invaded the unsuspecting skyline. Battery-powered solar lights took over where the power grid left off, but inside The Blue Star visibility remained limited. The building itself used to be a residential home. Built back in the early 1900’s, it was converted…
Houston resembled a winter wonderland as snow blanketed the dark city. CMC squads ramped up forces and attempted to maintain control over the throngs of club-goers congesting the sidewalks and streets. The atmosphere took a turn for the worse after the city went black. Low levels of panic surfaced when word spread like a schoolhouse…
Justin stood outside in his backyard with an extremely unhappy Strutter, who was being forced against his will to brave the cold and use the bathroom. The snow caused the old dog much discouragement. Admiring the falling flakes, he fell into his thoughts about past and present transgressions for which he claimed admitted guilt. He…
Justin stepped out into the bitter cold of the morning for the third time in one hour. Sleep deprived and worn-out, he spent the entire night worrying about Paige and arguing with Allison about his blatant lack of honesty. She screamed and cried until her voice gave out while Justin begged for forgiveness, unpacking her…
Downtown Houston glowed under a blanket of snow. Paige stepped outside, covered her eyes and checked her phone for a signal that didn’t exist. The professor warmed up his old white van as the others slowly trickled out of the club, yawning and rubbing their eyes. They drove about a block down Montrose to check…
The freeway traffic thinned out as jungles of concrete buildings gave way to overgrown forests and muddy rivers. Gazing through the back window, Paige noticed two airplanes flying overhead spraying red smoke into the air in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Confused by what she saw, she turned to ask Ashley, but Michael’s tired voice spoke first,…
The Lone Star State gave way to Cajun Country as gray skies followed Justin and Allison across the former state line. They made it through the checkpoint without incident with Justin playing the typical law-abiding citizen, his national ID card in hand for scanning. Few words were spoken except when he asked Allison, with extreme…
Although Houston received several inches of snow, the white powder remained absent in the Big Easy. Puddles of rain cleansed the dirty sidewalks as pedestrians maneuvered around the standing water and walked against the brisk wind cutting through the French Quarters. Sweet spices filled the air where spirits soared through clouds of musk and smoke,…
An airplane flew by overhead as Justin and Allison neared the deep swamplands of Louisiana. A trail of red smoke poured from the wings and Justin muttered a series of expletives before closing the car vents. He never accepted the new world in which they lived. He hated everything about it yet refused to grow…
Ashley steered the van down a barely visible, narrow gravel road where the home of an extremely dysfunctional family towered in the distance. A small community of RV’s, trailers and single-room shacks clustered the wooded property, but the inhabitants, if any, failed to make an appearance. No one spoke as they winded their way through…
Through the circular opening of her entrapment, Paige gazed at the full moon perched high above. The bright orb fought to escape its own imprisonment as it peeked through a blanket of clouds sweeping across the sky. Sympathetic to its cause, she rallied for the moon but suffered the loss when a brave beam, which…
Paige emerged from the overgrown field and crept to the back of the small yellow cottage. Shadows moved around inside as she crouched down below the window and sprinted across to one of the twin structures. Peeking around the concrete wall, she looked behind trees and scanned the winged fountain before making a break for…
Music echoed from somewhere inside the depths of the Shady Oak Plantation House where a piano played a soft bluesy tune. The phantom melody reached its climax and then pulled back, fading into a remnant before starting over again. As the hands of the clock moved down another notch, Paige grew weak with anxiety. Each…
The same sad song played over again as Paige fled the library and climbed the curved stairwell. Her foot landed sideways on the third step and she fell forward, grabbing her ankle and wincing with pain, she yelled for Kendal to shut up! The piano went silent but the screaming infant grew louder as she…
Michael’s voice enraged Vincent. With his gun aimed at Justin, he crept backwards toward the house but stopped when he reached the car. Allison ducked down in the seat and Justin yelled for him to back away, but Vincent roared as he lifted up his cane and smashed the front headlight. “Show yourself!” The female…
Justin followed behind the old white van as it bumped along the winding gravel road. Paige gripped the gold pocket watch and silently observed the dashboard from the backseat. Blue and green lights lit up the console with a dizzying array of buttons and knobs and small computer screens that looked as complicated as the…
Time tormented Paige. Seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like hours as she sat in the backseat overcome with fear. Her father parked on the curb next to the yellow row house and pulled in behind the van. For a brief moment, she forgot herself and expected to see Gabriel step out onto the…
The old white van traveled alone on the dark highway until red and blue lights appeared from behind, blinding Paige as they zoomed past in a bright colorful blur. Astounded by the number of stars shining overhead, she craned her neck out the window. The Milky Way covered the sky in a cloudy smear of…
He told himself he’d only have one drink. A light drizzle coated the sidewalks where cigarette butts soaked up a new batch of vomit. Twenty-something’s sat huddled together in dirty corners, some sad and dejected and others too high to care about their homeless dispositions. He could be one of them if it wasn’t for…
Where haunted snapshots translate into dreams, Paige trekked across a rocky terrain. Clusters of waterfalls cascaded down from the high cliff and emptied off into a vast blue ocean. A tall neon sign towered in the open water flashing the words, wake up, on a hypnotizing loop. Collapsing waves crashed against the rocks and sprayed…
She tasted the change in the air. Lighter and easier to swallow, she sucked it in and held her breath letting her lungs absorb the familiar oxygen. The full moon shone down upon her with a knowing smile and led the way to her destination, ducking behind rows of colorful shotgun houses and reappearing when…
The Apple and the birdcage 