The beach cooled as the sun lowered in the sky and the sunbathers took their towels and lotions back to their cars that had been baking in the parking lot. They were replaced by workers getting off their shifts looking forward to drinking a beer on the beach as the sun went down. Further up the strand the beach had emptied out completely and the wind was picking up. The waves crashed and crashed and crashed.

There was a stirring in the middle of the empty part of the beach and a depression began to be created as sand swirled like a drain. Continue reading →

The phone wouldn’t stop ringing but Tanner ignored it, heading down into the basement. He stepped on a few darts that were scattered on the floor in front of the dart board on his way over to the bar. Dropping some ice cubes into a tumbler he poured himself a whiskey. There was a pool table on the other side of the basement and a large TV with an old orange leather couch in front of it. Tanner took the vacuum cleaner from under the stairs and plugged it in near the TV, drowning out the incessant ringing of the phone when he turned it on. He took another long swig of whiskey, set the glass on a coaster that read “Dad”, and proceeded to vacuum the carpet.

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Hank hung onto the back of the garbage truck for about ten minutes before he was shot off by a volley of bullets. What was left of his body thunked to the ground and rolled a little as the truck peeled out, knocking over trash cans and sending garbage blowing all over the street. A couple of chubby gang-bangers reloaded their guns and went back down the alley to get stoned in the shadows.

Hank lay there, gaping holes in his chest and leg, blood quickly exiting his body. He thought about how perfect his chest once was, and his leg. Good luck picking up chicks now, he told himself. The blood kept flowing- he didn’t realize there was that much blood in the human body.

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