Into the Night

Into the Night:

A collection of micro-stories united by a common theme


Sunset
As the sun sets, the world dies.

Nightmare
A while back the nightmares started.  They weren’t too bad at first, but after a while they escalated to a level that prevented me from blinking for more than a second; I was afraid I was going to lose myself in them.  I went to my doctor and he gave me some sleeping pills; he said they should last six months, and then he told me to take one every night. “Only one,” he had said with a look of severity in his eyes. So I did.  And they worked…for the first week anyway, after that, the nightmares came back stronger than ever. I knew of only one solution: up the dosage. So I did.  Two pills brought me sleep for almost a week…then, once more my demons returned.  This process continued for three more weeks. After five pills a night ceased to bring me comfort, I gave up hope.  Desperately, I emptied the container (seventy-five pills) into my body. I can already feel them taking effect.  This time I know I will drift into slumber and never be plagued by the nightmares again!

Stand in the Rain
Tears flowing, he put the gun back to his temple and tried to pull the trigger again, but just like the last twenty times, he could not bring himself to do it.  Swearing, he hurled the gun at the wall, and then he snapped: He fell to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably; cursing God, he begged to escape the life in which he was trapped.  For as long as he could remember he had been walked on and treated like a filthy rat.  Everyone always left him outside to stand in the rain and await an exodus.  He just couldn’t take it any more…  After an hour he had no tears left. A look of realization dawned on his face, and before he could stop himself, he ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and slit his wrist so deep he scratched the bone.  He let out a triumphant roar and then toppled to the floor.

Love
He had watched her for a long, long time.  He wanted to run his fingers through her long, luxurious blonde hair; he wanted to see her eyes, those bright blues that made him feel so warm inside.  Checking his watch, he smiled; it was time.  He slipped in through a window and traipsed into her bedroom.  She was asleep.  Perfectly silent, he shackled her down and then took her clothes off.  She, of course, woke up in the process, but it was too late.  He raped her.  Every time she screamed, his heart rushed.  When he was done, he regrettably slit her throat.  He then prepared to leave, but before he did, he cut a lock of her hair and placed it in a plastic bag, and then pulled out a jar in which he placed her eyes; all for safe-keeping.

Inconceivable
It was just after eleven when we got the call that Russia had unleashed an army of nuclear warheads upon the world, and that one was heading right for us here in Los Angeles.  According to the local news, attempts were being made to stop as many as possible, but it would be unwise to hope.  The U.S. was to be hit in New York City, Chicago, D.C, and here… Apparently Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, and countless others were also targets.  We have five minutes till they hit.  I put my wife to sleep with pills, and my kids have long since been in bed.  Four minutes.  I hope they don’t play sirens of any kind; I don’t want my kids to wake… Three minutes.  I hope it’s quick.  Two minutes.  I just found myself praying to a God I haven’t believed in for twenty years… One minute.  I just kissed my family good-bye… For some reason, tears are pouring down my face.  I’m going to lie down… Thirty seconds.  Good-bye world.

Dead
He was trapped.  The walls so tight; the air so thin.  No fear though.  Somehow, he knew what it was he had to do.  No one had every told him “If you find yourself here, do this,” No, it was more of an understanding he had had his whole life.  With new found strength, he busted the lid of the coffin, and sifted up through the black soil.  The first thing he noticed was that it was night. Now that’s stereotypical, he thought.  The next thing he noticed was that he was surrounded with others of his kind.  Good, I’m glad I wasn’t the only one awakened for tonight.  They moved quickly out of the cemetery (they would have moved slowly, but thankfully He who rose them was smart enough to restore their bodies to what they were like prior to death) towards the flesh that they all craved.

Monster
“Hello viewers, we interrupt your program for a continuation of coverage on the situation an hour away from here in Galveston.,” John Hanlin said in the most serious of tones, “Just moments ago, a man from Galveston came by this station, told us that he had a video, and asked us to show it to you, which we are about to do, since it concerns all us you who are not too far away.  I will warn you, what you are about to see may disturb you…”
         “What the hell is that thing?” “I think It’s a spider. A really big spi—” “Julie no!” “Run Matt!  No!  Come back you fool.” Camera cuts out and comes back online later.  “To those of you watching this, hello…and good-bye if that thing gets beyond the city’s walls.  I’m driving to Houston now. It’s almost one-o’clock, and I’m right outside the city.  That thing attacked close to ten-o’clock.  It came right up out of the gulf.  Half the city was obliterated in seconds.  Incase you didn’t get to see it earlier, I’ll try and describe it to you now: Picture a spider-snake hybrid, only this one about two-hundred yards long and fifty-feet tall. It’s thin though, really thin; maybe five feet in width.  It has one huge red eye in the middle of its head, and hundreds of smaller ones covering the rest of its body.  Its flesh is a pale blue color, and is covered in spikes.  It has eighty legs (each close to five yards long) coming out of its body  like a spider’s; these legs are a metallic color, and extremely sharp (I saw a man sliced in half by one,) and they move extremely fast.  I would bet that this thing could clock one-hundred mph easy.  It gets worse: the mouth.  The head itself is round except for the metallic beak this creature has as its mouth, and the pinchers that surround it that would slice and dice anything in its path.  Inside the mouth are countless rows of razor sharp teeth and a sharp tongue capable of impaling a man (I witnessed this as well.) That’s not the worst part though, because this tongue has a tiny hole from which it can shoot acid a hundred yards at least.  The acid is strong; I had to watch as it burned through my best friend in a matter of seconds…
         “Somehow I was able to make it to the city’s border where I found the National Guard (some how they had arrived without our knowledge.) They said something about bombing the city and then gave me a car so I could get out of there.  That was at eleven-o’clock.  As far as I know, I was the only one to make it…  About an hour and a half ago—yeah, that’s right, it’s almost one now— I heard the bombs go off, you probably did too, I’m guessing… Any way, I went back to see… The city…was in ruins…there was nothing left… I didn’t see the creature, so I turned around.  At twelve-thirty, I heard an angry roar overtake the skies that chilled me to the bone.  God help us all.{/i)
“Um… Ladies and gentlemen, I’m John Hanlin, praying you have a good night.  We’ll be signing off now…”


Sunrise
The sun is rising.  Few have made it through the night, but these few I have chosen to begin the new world.  They will be tested though.  These one-hundred people will have to find each other; they will have to survive this new, dangerous world.  They will have to conquer the beast they so narrowly escaped; but most of all they will have to acknowledge me as their God.  Today begins a new era, an era of the free, of the happy, of the perfect!  I call out to you my children!  Come, join me here in Eden!