BOOM!
The explosion ripped the three-man team off the ground
and tossed them into the air. Eric slammed face first in the
sand. He pushed up on his knees, pressed the detached flap
of flesh back down on his forehead, wiped the blood from his
eye, and fought the pain hammering inside his skull. He
turned toward his friend, but Mac was gone, only a hole
remained where he had been seconds before. He saw Duke lying
in the sand ...
The sound of the vehicle pulling into the driveway
brought him out of the dream and back to the kitchen in his
small house. Eric stood up from the table, walked over to
the window above the sink, and stared at the two figures in
the black car. The glow from the streetlight was
insufficient to see their faces, but he knew, there in the
passenger seat, it was her. The head of the passenger
disappeared below the edge of the car window. When the head
of the driver leaned back, Eric gripped the sides of his
coffee mug. He watched for a moment to confirm his
suspicions, and then he closed his eyes and lowered his
head. He fought the impulse to end it all, to rush outside
and set things straight.
Perhaps she’s right. Maybe if I had been here,
things would have turned out different.
He took a deep breath, started to glance out the window
one last time, but instead returned to his seat at the
table, and waited.
Eric tapped his knuckles on the table as he sat alone in the
dark. His eyes bored into the kitchen door until he heard
the key turn in the lock. He listened to the door close and
the light footsteps as they echoed through the small
two-story house and advanced on his position. When the entry
to the kitchen opened, the woman flipped the light switch
and was startled.
“Damn, you scared the hell out of me. I didn’t
know you were home from your trip. Where’s your
car?”
“In the garage.”
“Why are you sitting in the dark?”
Eric surveyed his wife’s attire: the three-inch heels,
the opal earrings he gave her on their first anniversary,
and the strapless black dress. The same outfit she used to
wear only when they went out, the one that made him proud
she was his and no one else’s.
“It’s a bit late to be coming in, isn’t
it? Where have you been?”
Karen paused for moment, tossed her keys on the counter, and
responded without looking at her husband. “I was out
with friends.”
“Do I know these friends?”
“No.”
“It’s really getting old, to come home to an
empty house every night, and find out you’ve been with
your…friends.”
“Then stop traveling everywhere for that damn job.
Besides, why the hell should you care what I do when
you’re gone? I’m aware you’re not alone on
those trips. I know you take one of your sluts with you,
like that red headed major.”
Eric stood up. He scanned the hard expression on his
wife’s beautiful face, the glistening black hair he
longed to stroke. He glanced at the tight lips that once
smiled whenever he was near, the soft lips he needed to
touch, to taste. “No matter how many times you accuse
me of infidelity, it doesn’t make it true. I swear I
have not been with any other women during our entire
marriage. Can you say the same for yourself?”
With an expression barren of emotion, Karen ignored the
comment and turned toward the doorway to leave, but not
without making one final cutting remark. “I
don’t believe you. You haven’t been with me for
a long time, so you must be screwing someone else. As
always, this conversation has given me a headache.
Don’t wake me when you come to bed, or when you go
jogging in the morning.”
Eric remained alone in the kitchen with only the light
beneath the doorsill stretching across the floor. While he
stared past the door into the next room, he whispered to
the only woman in his life, “Where did it go, Karen?
You loved me once. Is it so easy to forget what we used to
have, together? I still remember. I’ve tried hard not
to let it go, but it becomes more difficult each day.”
Eric listened to the clock on his nightstand, and resisted
the need for sleep. He knew it waited in the shadows of his
nightmare. After two hours, he lost the battle. While he
slept, the vision that hounded his dreams for so long
returned:
the fawn grazed toward the edge of the
woodland, unaware of what lurked just inside the trees. In
an instant, the beast lunged onto his prey. While it
consumed her innocence, Eric was helpless. Chained to an oak
tree, he was forced to observe while the demon mocked him.
He could only watch from the hill as he lost her forever to
that ruthless bastard. He ripped at the chains as they cut
deep into his skin. He struggled against the bonds until the
shackles that had imprisoned him all these years were
covered with his blood. He ignored the gnawing pain, pushed
against the tree with his feet, until the steel tore deep
into his flesh and exposed the bone, but the chains
remained, stopped him from saving her. Eric looked away and
closed his eyes, but the tears continued to pour down his
cheeks. The beast grunted with pleasure as it wrested the
life from her small slender body. Eric screamed in agony,
but no one was there on the lonely hill to listen. While he
watched her die alone, he wept.
Eric sat up in his bed. The nightmare left him soaked
in sweat. He gazed at his wife lying next to him, and
started to reach for her. He needed to feel her soft skin,
touch the taut ridge that flowed down her back. He yearned
to be absolved of his guilt, or to achieve some semblance of
comfort, but he pulled back, afraid of being rejected, again.
He felt alone, as always, all alone. He got up, walked into
the spare bedroom, and curled up on the bed. Eric lay
motionless, staring out the window at the stars in the
night sky, until the tremors from the nightmare disappeared.
After thirty minutes he fell asleep again, by himself, in
the dark room.
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