It was a dark and stormy night. My buddies Don, Jon, Ron, and I had just finished the last of my storages of beer. Groggily, Don asked Jon to go out to the store to replenish our stock. But Jon was asleep, so Ron offered to go. Out to the jeep, Ron went, stumbling blindly down my unpaved walk that leads through the un-kept rosebush garden. About a minute later we heard the engine start, and then the drone of the car rolling out of sight. While we waited to further indulge ourselves in beautiful alcohol, we talked amongst ourselves on subjects only men can extrapolate deeply on, such as the essence of fine looking women. Each minute went on pleasantly, until my eyes good no longer bear opening again.


Crack! Boom-Boom-Boom! I suddenly broke into consciousness. The rain had become louder, drowning out the snores of my fellows. Lightning struck again, throwing the room into sharp relief, illumination the moose head on my wall, giving it an eerie look. I became scared, and a feeling came over me, the feeling that someone was watching. I checked outside, but the jeep was still gone, meaning Ron was still at the store. Since the store is only a couple of blocks away, I decided to go see Ron. Quietly, I slipped outside, ran down the path and out to the street. The rain and lighting had stopped, as if it had anticipated my actions. No one was outside tonight, and no cars were on the street. I checked my watch… Dead midnight. I got scared again and did three complete circles to see if anyone was around me. I had seen way too many scary movies. I started running again, heading toward the lighted Gas Station that was just across the railroad tracks, about ten blocks away.


Just as I reached the train tracks my cell phone stated to ring. I took it out to see who was calling. It was Don. But I left Don asleep on the carpet back at the house, I thought to myself as I answered it. For ten seconds I heard a deep slow breathing on the other end before…Click! The person on the other end hung up. Whoever it was, it wasn’t Don, or Jon, because the amount of alcohol they had both consumed would not allow them to wake up. Now I was really scared. Someone besides my friends was at the house, and I could not find Ron. Without realizing it I found myself on the train tracks. I was about to turn back to the house, when I felt a rumbling beneath my feet. Looking down the train tracks, I saw a freight train, moving at top speed, heading right toward me. I distinctly saw the conductor of the train before it hit me… He had a mask, and a sword.


Then I woke up. I was still lying on my couch and I was sweating like a pig. I checked my watch. It was midnight. I recalled on my dream and remembered what had happened. Taking in my surroundings, I saw Don and Jon on the floor, but still no Ron. Just then I heard a car door slam. I got up and looked out the window. There was no jeep in the driveway, but there was a black Cadillac in the driveway. I didn’t see anyone around the car so I went back into the living room to puzzle over what I had seen. Why was this car in my driveway? Why hadn’t Ron come back? The floor creaked loudly upstairs. I knew someone stepping on a certain floorboard could only have done the creak. Someone was in the house. Stealthily, I ran through the hall into my study where I kept my emergency weapons. I opened the safe and was loading my rifle when I heard a shot, and then another one. Two shots for two men, I thought frantically to myself. I finished loading my gun, then slowly made my way down the hall. Another creak to a doorway to my right told me someone was walking into this hall! I ducked into the area under the stairwell and held my rifle so that the exact moment the person passed my hiding spot, they would be shot.

Nobody walked by. Nobody came. There were no indications that anyone was still in the house for thirty minutes. I sat crouched under the stairwell with my ears open, my heart pounding, my legs and arms cramping painfully. I could not wait any longer. I peeked out down the hall. It was empty. Suddenly, there was a bang and pounding footsteps. Then nothing. I padded down to the kitchen and jumped in ready to attack. A man was lying face down on the floor. He looked familiar, and in turning him face up I recognized my buddy Ron! I heard a car engine start and ran out to look through the window. Starring back at me was the same man that had been engineering the train in my dream. I panicked, forgetting my gun, and sprint backwards, running over tables and chairs and smashing over the couch. Which is the last of what I can remember. The people in the emergency room tell me my body is recovering from severe shock. They tell me the police found me on the floor a couple of pieces of furniture overturned. People I ask say that there were no signs of the men I knew as Don, Jon, and Ron. They have never let me leave the secluded white room I seem to have lived in since. They tell me it’s to protect me. But I know what this is. It is Rehab.