Every Short Story I Have Written So Far

Return of the Dead
By
Jeremy Wentzel

Chapter 1

It is around 5:30 p.m. and I am outside standing here at the corner of broken hand st. waiting for my cousin Brad Pintin. While I was still standing at the corner of Broken hand St., the cool winter air flashed through my face like a sword through thin air. Finally in the midst of the snow falling I could just make out his face.
Brad is 5’ 3, 100 lbs., dark brown hair and blue eyes. Even though we were cousins and our mom’s were sisters we didn’t look alike at all. I was 6’0, 135 lbs., light brown hair and brown eyes.

“Hurry up!” I called. He came running down to the corner were I was waiting for him. “What took you so long?” I asked.

“I had to take a shower you know.” He replied.

“Well you didn’t have to freaking taken a year and a day.” I said.
When we got to the house we walked in and sat down for dinner.
At dinner everyone was quite. No one said a word. So of course my damn brother Chris started a conversation.

“Hey mom?” Chris started.

“Yes dear.” My mom replied.

“You know those zombie movies Jeremy likes to watch?” He asked.

“Yes I do Chris.” My mom said.

“Well I heard that there is some type of disease going around that is close by us.” He said.

“Oh that’s nice Chris.” My mom said with a weird look on here face.

“Chris if your telling the truth then why don’t you just tell us what the news said about it?” I asked.
“Okay I will.” Answered Chris.

“They said it turned human beings into flesh eating zombies and the dead to the undead.” He said.

“But do you know how to kill the zombies Chris?” I asked.

“No, not exactly.” He replied.

“I guess that means your screwed Chris.” I said.

“Because if one of them zombies comes after you and you don’t know how to kill it you will want to know how to.” I added.

“Jeremy watch you r mouth!” Mom said.

“I was just trying to give him the facts mom!” I yelled.
After that everyone got up except Brad and I. We both sat there thinking about what Chris had said.
Later Brad and I were upstairs in my room playing The Dead are Alive on my new system Gamer. The reason we were playing this game was because the zombies were on my mind at the time.

“So Brad do you think Chris is telling the truth about the whole zombie commotion?” I asked curiously.

“I sure hope he is lining because I don’t want to get bit by one of those damn things.” He replied.

“You don’t really have to worry about getting bit if you stay with me the whole time.” I said smiling.
Soon after we had finished playing our game we headed down stairs to watch Undead, which was one of my favorite movies. Once the movie was over Brad and I decided to watch the rest of the news to see if there was an up date on the zombies and the disease. The news had said the same thing that Chris had said to us earlier at dinner. Also they said the zombies were flooding the United States. Our family was in a bad place since we were in Pennsylvania and New York was very close.

“We better be ready for this one Brad.” I said.

“Yeah I know, I guess we really shouldn’t tell your mom about this should we?” Brad said.

“No.” I replied.

“I’m not going to and it’s a good idea I don’t.” I added.
Since my mom was going to Mexico tomorrow morning I was guessing that was good. Then suddenly outside off in the distance I heard a moaning sound that seemed to me that wasn’t an animal but something very abnormal.




Chapter 2

Brad and I both looked at each other worriedly that tomorrow my mom would not make it to Mexico in the morning.
The next morning I looked out the window to see that my mom’s car was gone. So obviously, that my mom made it to the airport and hopefully to Mexico. I looked over to were Brad was sleeping.

“Wake up Brad.” I whispered.

“I’m up, I’m up.” He said tired.

“My mom is gone.” I said.

“That’s good.” He replied still tired.

“Lets go down stairs and have some breakfast and then see if the news is on yet.” I said running across the room to the stairs.

“I could really go for some eggs and sausage about now.” Brad said.
We ran down stairs and had some breakfast and went to turn on the TV. The news said for residents to lock all there doors and find a safe place to hide. Of course I had a better solution to the problem.

“Brad lets get my dads truck and head over to the Shop An Go and get weapons.

“Sounds like a good idea to me.” Brad said.

“Get the keys!” I shouted.

“Got am’.” He yelled.

“Lets get the hell of here man!” I said.
We floored the truck to the Shop An Go. It seemed like the whole world had just left and never came back. We walked in and found things lying around like a heard of animals had came by seconds ago. We headed down to the gun department while looking at the ruble left of the stuff. When we got to the department there wasn’t that many guns but enough for twenty people. We grabbed as much ammo as we possibly could carry in a knapsack near by. Then from behind me I heard a loud moan and turned around. It was a zombie! I picked up one of the guns and pointed it at its head. BAM!!! The bullet went clear through its head and brains flew in either direction.

“Holy Shit man that stinks!” Brad said.

“I know man, Jesus!” I agreed.

“Forget that guy lets just leave and get to somewhere safe.” I said with a disgusted look on my face. I hesitated and looked again at the face of the dead gory smashed in headed zombie. I turned my back to it and ran out of the building and to the truck. We set off to look for shelter and food to hold us over for the rest of the day.
About 20 minuets past and Brad and I found a huge mall. The mall had what any other mall would have. Book store and clothes store and a gun shop. We could use a lot of the ammo so we can kill the zombies off and not run out of ammo quick. Once we had the truck parked there were approximately fifteen different zombies trying to surround us. We got away fast. I grabbed a gun and shot the first three zombies by the main entrance and walked quickly in.
Once in the mall we looked for the gun shop. I scanned the directory and ran past the zombies to find the gun shop. We needed another backpack so we could fit more guns and ammo in it. Some of the cabinets we found had grenade launchers and some rockets in them stored away for the swat team. We took them and the rest of the guns we could carry and headed down to the security room. Zombies were right behind us but we didn’t know until one of them moaned. I turned around and shot it in the head BAM!!! The cracking of the gun was so loud it pierced my ears and Brads.

Chapter 3

Since we couldn’t find the security room we decided to go get some food. On are way to get some food I heard one of my favorite songs called Rock On- by The Punks. This song made me a little hyper so I blew a couple of zombies’ heads off. That didn’t make Brad and I hungry anymore but we still had to eat something.
I had Chinese and Brad had a burger from Burger Palace.
After we were finished eating dinner I had told Brad that we needed to find a store that sold mattresses so we had a place to sleep.

“I think I saw a store like that right when we came in the entrance.

“Okay. Lets go down there now.” I said.

“Okay.” Brad said.
We walked about half way down to the store when I noticed there were about three dozen zombies scattered all around.

“Brad get out two of the shotguns and four of the 9mm’s out and load them.” I demanded.

“Ready!” Brad yelled.

“Brad we will separate. I’ll take the main entrance and you take the back.” I said.

“And we meet back at the gun shop.” I quickly added. Brad nodded and bolted down to the back entrance. BAM!!! BAM!!! BAM!!! I shot three times killing three zombies and blood flew in all different directions with brains following. The blood and brains smacked against the wall like a tongue slapping against two lips. Brad looked back but then went back to his own work.
Running and shooting at the same time I tried to get as much zombies as I could. Then I slipped on some blood and my body slammed to the ground with a thud!

“Shit!” I yelled. I had dropped my gun.
While I was trying to get my gun back one of the zombies was crawling towards me and tried to bite me. I kicked it in the face and it jerked back. I then quickly grabbed my gun and started running again.
Loading a gun and running at the same time is not an easy thing to do. It gets to be a pain in the ass. BAM!! BAM!! Man it is getting hard to shoot these zombies from long distances I thought to myself. Some zombies walked right to me and did nothing but I still killed them.
By the time I was tired I stopped and looked around. The walls and floor were covered with blood and guts. I heard gunshots now and then but it was only Brad trying to survive. I gazed down the mall and saw the store with the mattresses. Inside were a couple of zombies. It was easy killing them. Even though one of the mattresses was drenched in blood from the zombies.
It was now seven o’clock on my watch so I lay down on the mattress and sighed. The bed was really comfy so I thought Brad could sleep on the floor. I know I wasn’t going to. My ass had hurt from running around and so did my legs.
All of a sudden I heard a girl scream. I got up surprised and ran out of the store, loaded my guns and I got ready for hell to break loose from its cage.

Chapter 4

I ran to were I had heard the scream from. The only problem was I didn’t see the girl anywhere. CLICK!!! I slowly turned around to see a gun pointed right at my face.

“Holy Shit!” I yelled.

“Put the gun down lady.” I said scared.

“I’m not a lady.” The girl said.

“My name is Kendra Right.” She said.

“Really?” I asked looking suspiciously at her.

“Yeah!” Kendra shouted.

“Okay. So how the hell did you get in here?” I asked her.

“My mom in I came to shop for clothes and the next thing a thing bit my mom and I shot it.” Kendra said crying.

“How did you get that gun?” I asked.

“I always carry one with me.” She replied.

“Well it isn’t your fault your mom had to die like that.” I tried to explain.
I held her shoulder and then she started to cry. She Sniffed and asked,

“What about the rest of the people who were here shopping?”

“There probably all dead or ran to find shelter somewhere near by.” I said.

“I think we should go head to the gun shop to meet back up with my cousin Brad.” I added.

“What is it like to kill a zombie to you?” Kendra asked.

“I think it’s easy but wrong.” I answered.

“Oh, and by the way my names Jeremy Colbert.

“Nice to meet you.” Kendra said. We headed to the gun shop and found Brad there waiting for me.

“Brad this is Kendra. Kendra this is Brad.” I said.

“Nice to meet you.” Kendra said.

“You too.” Brad reacted.

“So how many zombies did you kill?” Brad asked.

“I would say around a dozen or so.” I replied.

“Okay Brad we have to go check the rest of the mall and see if there is more zombies before we try anything else.” I said sternly.

“Before we go lets get some more guns and load the rest of them.” I said.

“Okay.” Brad said.

“Kendra do you know how to shoot a gun?” I asked.

“You bet your ass I can shoot a gun.” Kendra replied smiling.

“Good at least we have another person that can shoot a gun.” I said in relief.
We started walking and then running because we had to avoid getting into zombie business. We only had to shoot three at the most. It didn’t matter since we had so much ammo. After a few moments we stopped to rest and then were ready to go kick some ass again.

“Finally there’s an escalator!” I said breathlessly.

“Great.” Brad said. As soon as we got up stairs to the second floor of the huge shopping mall I just knew all hell was about to begin.

Chapter 5

As we looked upstairs we could hear the sounds of the sickening in-human zombies. We just knew that something really bad was going to happen.

“This is it guys, where in the second floor of hell.” I said.

“You know a lot about these zombies don’t you Jeremy?” Kendra asked.

“Yes he does.” Brad answered for me.

“All right guys we all need to split up for this sucker and take out all the zombies.” I said. Each of us loaded our guns and got in gear.
We were ready to kick some zombie ass. Brad took the left while Kendra took the middle and I took the right.

“If we get lost and don’t see each other in a few hours you’ll have to find shelter on your own.” I said.

“Jeremy I have to tell you something.” Said Kendra. I hesitated and told her to tell me later. I ran and thought I heard her say she worked for the Scientific Bio-Hazard Service.

That night I thought about what Kendra had said back at the escalators. I couldn’t believe what she had said. I bet she was on to something. The same time I thought this three men dressed in science lab clothes walked towards me. One looked to be about thirty- five and the others in there twenties. One of them asked me

“Are you Jeremy Colbert?”

“Yes.” I replied.
“Why?”

“Were are scientists with the Bio-Hazard Service.” The one replied.

“And your names are?” I asked.

“I am Matt, this is Jeff, and this is Ken.” Matt replied.

“Well what do you guys want?” I asked suspiciously.

“We heard that your eighteen and you know all about the zombies.” He said.

“And do you know anyone by the name of Kendra?” Kent asked.

“Yes.” I replied.
"Well got to go guys see you later!” I shouted.

I started to run down the aisle of the mall where I then found Kendra and Brad lying on the benches.

“Well guys how did it go out there?” I asked.

“Like shit. You?” Brad answered.

“I did find a couple of scientists looking for Kendra and they looked pissed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kendra said.

“Lets get out of here before the zombies eat us alive.” I said.
When I got up one zombie grabbed my leg and tried to bite it.

“Get of my leg you ASS HOLE!!” I yelled.

“DAMNIT BRAD HELP ME HERE!!!!!” I yelled.
Brad took his gun and shot the zombie point blank in the head. Blood scattered all over me since I was so close to the zombie. I couldn’t take a shower so we had to find the scientists. But somehow I managed to get all of the blood off of me.
Soon, it was very dark out and the three scientists were nowhere in site. I looked out the window pain and saw lights on about a mile away. That could be were the scientists are I thought to myself. That same night I had flashbacks of my parents and the good times we had together. What If my parents aren’t alive? What would I do? I couldn’t live the rest of my life with just two people. If my parents were dead I would take my revenge on those bastards and make them all pay.

Chapter 6

The scientists were back. It was time I out smarted them. They would never kill me or the other two.


Kendra was waiting for me down by the main entrance to the mall. Brad and I hurried to meet up with her when out of nowhere a bullet flew past my left ear. I turned to see the scientists with there guns pointed at us. They would fire again if I moved one more step.

“It’s too late Jeremy.” Said Matt.

“The girl is coming with us and you can’t stop that.” He said.

“Oh, but I can.” I said.

“How do you figure?” Matt asked.
With that thought in mind I raised my gun to Kendra. Matt smiled and waited for me to do something. I smiled back and then looked at Kendra. I looked at Matt again closely. I saw a zombie behind him and it would attack.

“Matt you might want to turn around.” I said. But he ignored me. Brad was smart and stayed upstairs like I told him to. A few seconds later the zombie grabbed Matt by the shoulders and bit his neck. I watched Matt go down and as this happened his gun went of and had shot Kendra. I ran to her and felt her pulse. It didn’t beat. The other scientists were gone and I was pissed. I went to go find them both. I turned to see Ken and Jeff standing next to each other. They didn’t see me so I hid behind a pillar. I slightly moved to see Jeff. I aimed at his chest and shot. Ken didn’t move or alarm himself.

“You’ll never win Jeremy.” He said.

“The end is near.” He said.

“Why is this happening?” I asked.

“We took a virus and used it to see if it would effect humans.” He said and then laughed. I had such fury and rage I shot him four times. By the time Ken hit the floor I had already set the bomb to ten minutes.
I headed to get Brad. We ran as quickly out of the building as possible. We got into the truck and fled. Within nine minutes the mall was at least one mile away.
The next minute the bomb went off. The mall was gone. We found a docking area. Once we were at the boats Brad and I had picked our yacht that we wanted. We got ready and sailed to the closest island we could find and thought was safe.


Chapter 7

I climbed off board of the yacht and got ready to set up for camp.

“Brad you see if there is any food and supplies while I go set up for camp." I said.

Brad nodded. I haled the huge bag with the tent in it to a good spot. I stopped and worked on the camp. While doing this off in the distance you could hear groans of inhuman things.

I, Brad, was on my way back to the boat with enough food for a couple of nights. I had the boat in sight when I heard several gunshots. I quickly ran to the boat, grabbed two pistols, and a twleve gage shotgun. I went to investigate. It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on. My cousin was in danger. Ten zombies surrounded him. He shot furiously at them. Three went down with a thud. Blood was rushing from the holes in thier skulls. I helped Jeremy by taking out the rest of them. We heard more distant crys. They were coming. I bolted for the boat while Jeremy took a few more zombies out. Jeremy ran inside the boat and yelled for me to start it. The boats engine rummbled and spat as we flew down the dark murky river. By dawn we would reach a development and spend our lives in a nice house. It wasn't much, but would provide warmth and some food until we would need more. Exaustfullness filled us both and we went to bed. Tomorrow would be another day.

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THE THINGS
Odin awoke to find he lying in a haystack. He had no clue were he was. He gazed around the dimly lit tavern like building. While gazing he saw a small-lit lantern, some books with cobwebs on them and a rusty short sword by his right side. He stared at the short sword for a few moments. His hand went to touch the sword but something stopped him from doing so. By the door Odin could hear the shuffling of what sounded like feet. Along with the shuffling came a groan. This groan did not sound human. The door slowly creaked open. Standing in the doorway was what looked like a normal human being? It groaned again and walked toward Odin.
“Hello?” Odin called. It did not answer him.
“Were am I?” Odin asked. The thing got closer to him. Blood trickled out of the things mouth and down to its chest.
“Oh, my god you’re bleeding!” Odin cried. The thing tried to grab Odin and bite him. “What the hell…” Odin said looking confused.
Again the thing tried to bite him. Odin lunged for the short sword. He took the sword and thrust it through its neck. Blood spurted to Odin’s body and on to the floor. Odin was so terrified from this he ran outside of the building.
Odin could not believe his eyes but to see trees as far as the eye could see and two small market stands on either side of him. He heard more groans from within the trees. The path seemed like it would go on forever. Odin still had the short sword in his hand. He needed a better weapon that could fight off the things that roamed the ground he was on. Odin walked to the stand on his left. He found bread and water there. He took as much as he could eat and drink. Odin then walked to the stand on his right. Here Odin found a battle-axe and a long bow. He could not really use the long bow since the short of arrows.
Odin headed down the path. Were was he going?
While walking down the dark gloomy path he thought of what might of happened to him. Maybe it was that he was sent back through time or that he was still sleeping and would wake up any minute.
Again Odin heard the groans and shuffling of the feet. He quickly turned around to see three of the things right behind him. Odin still did not know what these things were or wanted. But he did know that he must run away from the things and not get hurt. When Odin turned back around he couldn’t see the path. It was so dark he could not make out the trees in front of him. Fog was now floating in the air followed by rain poring down were he stood. The things gained on Odin very quickly. They seemed to be intelligent like any human was but cant walk normally and doesn’t talk. Odin had his battle-axe ready for them. One of the things went for Odin’s arm. Odin swung his battle-axe and took the things hand off with a heavy blow. The blood was not much from the other thing he had seen earlier. Another thing grasped Odin’s longbow and broke it in half. Odin was distracted at this and did not notice the other thing behind him. It had got him in the neck. There was a hole were it got him. Flesh and bone was missing from the hole. Odin only saw his own blood gather around his neck down his legs. He staggered toward a tree and sat down. He had to catch his breath. Odin felt cold after awhile and started to shiver. Odin dozed off and slept for what seemed to be an hour or so.
Odin awoke to find he lying in a haystack. He then heard the sound of shuffling of feet and a groan.

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THE THINGS 2
Leon fumbled through some old documents. He was looking for his brother’s document on a potion Odin had made up over three years ago. Odin had drunk the potion, which made him sleep for two years. When he was to wake up and feel totally rejuvenated and also live forever. It never happened. Leon couldn’t find the document, which made him very frustrated. After some time he finally found it. “Yes!” He said aloud. Leon thought he would try what his brother Odin did. He read the ingredients to the potion. Luckily his brother had enough ingredients to make one more bottle. Once Leon was done he had to drink the whole bottle and lye down on a bed. The potion made Leon drowsy to were he couldn’t see the bed. He fell to the floor with a thud. Two years had gone by and Leon was still fast asleep. Leon awoke to find himself lying on the floor of an old building. He heard a groan from outside. Leon sprung to his feet and ran to the door thinking it was his brother. He paused at the sound of feet shuffling towards the door. That must be my brother out there he thought. As Leon opened the door nobody was there. The earth stood still and the air was quite. Leon caught himself hesitating and looked around in either direction. He found nothing. Something touched him from behind. Its neck was slit opened with dried blood over its body. Leon did not know what the thing was. It staggered closer to him. The thing tried to bite Leon in the face but he pushed the thing backwards. He ran outside yet to find another thing close by him. Leon again ran and tripped over something hard like metal. It was a rusty short sword. He picked it up and studied it for a while. This distracted Leon and the things had the advantage. They closed in on him. Leon took the sword in both hands and swung at the thing in front of him. With this, the thing’s head flew off and rolled down on the ground. The other thing was on Leon’s left side now. Again he took the sword to both hands and sliced it down the middle of the thing’s chest. Guts dropped to the ground with a heavy SMACK!!! At the sight of the guts and organs, Leon threw up. He dashed down the dark and gloomy that his brother Odin did three years ago. On Leon’s journey down the path he found spots of blood. Up ahead a battle-axe and what looked like a broken bow was sitting on the ground. Leon picked up the battle-axe and threw down the short sword. He thought it would be a better weapon to use against the things that roamed the path. In the distance Leon could hear faint cries of pain and agony. Leon now walked more carefully not to run into trees or those things. He walked for a few more minutes and wound up running into something that felt like a human. “Odin?” He asked. “Help…m…. e….” Said he. Leon looked into the human’s eyes. He seemed to be dreaming with them opened. It was his brother. He wished his brother would snap out of his little dream. Leon smacked his brother in the face. Odin finally opened his’ eyes. “Brother?” He asked sleepily and in pain. “Yes, It is I.” Leon answered. Leon studied his brother to see why he was in so much pain. There was a chunk of flesh and bone missing from his neck. Leon picked up his brother. He steadied him by putting his left arm over his right shoulder. They both staggered down the dark path. Leon and Odin both managed to discover the end of the path. At the end was a bright white light. Leon guessed that this light was there ticket home. He also knew that his brother Odin was dying. It was either now or never. They both walked further into the light. Behind them walked two things. Leon forced his brother to move faster. And then…. darkness. Odin flashed his eyes open. He awoke to find him and Leon in their house. Odin stared at his brother. “Wake up.” He told him. The house was the same since seven years ago to Odin after missing. They then stood up. In the next room a groan came.
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Perpetual Moment

By Jeremy Wentzel

October 4th, 2003

PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK OF MY NEW SHORT STORY.I WANT TO HEAR YOUR FEEDBACK.

THANK YOU


























1. Perpetual - Lasting for eternity. Continuing or lasting for an indefinitely long time. Instituted to be in effect or have tenure for an unlimited duration.

2. Moment - A brief, indefinite interval of time. A specific point in time, especially the present time. A particular period of importance.



An empty glass lay on the discoloring coffee table. Arms folded with her chin resting in place Jena sighed. It had been a long day and she didn’t want to think about work at the moment. She had just broke up with her boyfriend Brent. Even though they had only gone out for three months it was still hard for her. She couldn’t grasp the fact that he was cheating on her for some other girl. Brent and Jena always clasped to each other nothing stopping them from separating until now. Every day before school they would meet each other by the buses and walk hand in hand to class. Brent and Jena where unlike any other couple. They had there little arguments over something stupid and then got over it later on down the road. But Jena never thought that this day would come where they would break up and never talk face to face again. Jena slowly spread her arms and in front of her and stretched until her shoulders hurt. She rubbed her forehead softly. Another headache was coming. All Jena wanted to do was sleep. She hadn’t got sleep much lately since her best friend Carol died. Jena looked up at the clock that was now reading 5:25. That meant she had to be at work in about an hour. She would be working until 10:00 tonight since it was Friday. Every Friday night was hell at the pizza shop. People ran in and out, phones ringing for impatient people with orders to be made, dirty dishes clanging together wanting to be washed. Jena never looked forward to her job.It was the least of her worries when it came to doing some extra work when she already had enough school. She yawned and got up from the coffee table extending her right hand and grabbing the empty glass. She put the glass in the sink and washed it out. While putting away the glass the phone rang. Jena looked over to the phone. Her hand still inside the cabinet. She carefully placed the glass inside the cabinet and shut it. She shuffled for the phone. It rang three more times before she had reached it. Jena picked up the phone and with a sobering voice answered:

“Hello.” She said with a tired expression. No one answered. All she could hear was light breathing of someone on the other end.
“Hello?” Jena said her voice curious.

The light breathing stopped and there was a shatter of glass. Jena hung up the phone and saw that the glass she placed in the cabinet was now lying on the kitchen floor in pieces. She threw up her arms and grunted. She got the dust pan and brush to sweep the mess up. Jena pondered over how the glass could have broke when she put it in close to the back of the cabinet. She slid the glass into the pan and threw it away in the trash. She put the dust pan and brush back where she had gotten it and went upstairs to get a shower and change. Her hands felt cold on the metal railing that led up to her room. She always felt safe up there. It was her room she treated as a safe house, if she ever felt violated or in danger. She pushed the door open and strolled over to her dresser. She took what she needed and headed over to the bathroom. The bathroom was two doors down from where she was. Her feet let out a soft thud when she walked to the bathroom. Her dad never got the carpenters in to fix the floor that had been like it for months. The bathroom never stayed lit unless someone left the light on inside. There was no window for anyone to see the beautiful outside world. Jena pulled open the shower curtain and turned the hot water knob all the way to the right. She turned around and opened up the medicine cabinet and took out some Aspirin. She twisted the cap off and tapped the bottle against her palm. Out came two of the pills. She filled up a cup with water from the spicate. The coolness of it seeped through the cup and into her hand. Jena tilted her head back and popped the pills in her mouth. She then drank the cup of water to help wash down the pills. She tossed the cup into the trash can next to her and went to the shower. The steam rose from the bathtub. She slipped off her clothes and went inside.

After she had taken her shower Jena was feeling rejuvenated. The headache was gone and she didn’t feel tired anymore. Jena ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. She quickly snatched some sticky paper from the counter and wrote her mom a note. The note read:

“Mom,

Went to work will be back around 11:00 if I am not home by then call my cell phone. You know the number already.

Love Jena"

She slapped the note to the fridge and ran out to the front door. It was cold outside and Jena had forgotten to bring her coat along. She cursed herself for not remembering it. Jena had no time to go back inside and get it. Instead she jogged to her and opened the drivers door. She climbed in and put the key into the ignition. She turned it hard. The car wouldn’t start. She did it again and this time the car started. Jena let out a sigh of relief and drove out of the drive way. While driving she turned on the heat on high and let it run. It was not that far from her house to get to the pizza place. She felt like turning around and going back home. Jena hated working. Her mom was the one who made her get a job so she could have what people called ‘Responsibility’. It was never her type of thing. When she reached work she was cutting close to being late. She hurriedly turned off the car and went inside the pizza shop. When Jena walked into the shop she realized she had forgotten to put on her work clothes. She let out a long groan. The boss was not going to like this since it was Jena’s third time coming to work without her clothes. Jena escorted herself to the back where all of the action was taking place. She stood at her usual spot everyday and began washing all of the dirty dishes that customers had left. Thinking to herself, Jena thought of Brent and there relationship. She stood like a puppet waiting to be moved by its master. Something tapped her shoulder. Jena turned around and saw a tall bald muscular man. It was her boss. She let out a cry of fear and drop a dish she had in her hand. It didn’t break but clattered to the floor. The man looked down at the dish and then back up at Jena. He grunted and asked Jena where her work clothes were. She tried to explain everything that happened to her but he didn’t want to hear it. He told her the next time she forgot her clothes she would be fired. Jena nodded in response and went back to her work. Once her boss left, Jena caught her breath and took a moment to breath. She was startled at the way her boss looked at her. He never had looked at her that way before. Jena forgot about it and once again went back to the work that she was supposed to be doing. Jena still had three hours before she could be set free from the prison she was sentenced to sit through.

Two hours later Jena had estimated she washed over two-hundred dishes not including all of the spatulas and some other items. Most of the people from the bar were leaving and no one was sitting at the tables for lounging. This was called their “Clean-Up Hour”. Jena and the rest of the kitchen crew had to clean the pizza shop spotless. After Jena finished her last dish she was to go around and clear off all of the tables and wipe them down with a rag. This was the easiest part of her job that she actually liked. She knew that in one hour she would be going home and see to it that she slept good tonight. While wiping off one of the tables the bell that hung on the entrance door rung. A tall figure approached her. It was her boyfriend Brent. He stared at her for what seemed like eternity. She tried to look away from him but couldn’t. She couldn’t help but to keep her eyes glued to his. Finally Brent broke the silence and said that it was Jena’s fault they broke up. Jena didn’t feel like arguing and just kept on doing her job. He forced her to look back into his eyes. She glared at him with hatred. It was over she told him. He was consumed with so much anger and frustration that he slapped her across the face. He left a red mark on her left cheek. She didn’t cry out which surprised him and made him angry even more. He went to slap her again but a strong iron fist stopped him from doing so. Jena’s boss had punched Brent square in the face and knocked him down on his butt. He scrambled to his feet and ran out the door. Jena’s boss kneeled down to her and asked her if she was okay. She said that she was fine. Her boss told her to go home early and that he would call the cops the next time he saw such a thing happen. Jena got up and walked out of the pizza shop rubbing her cheek.

The sting kept bothering her for the rest of the night. Jena didn’t know what she should do about Brent. She thought about going over to his house and talking it over with him but she knew it probably wouldn’t work out too well. Instead of worrying about it anymore Jena decided to go to bed and forget about the whole thing. She walked up the stairs and into her room. She flipped the light switch and threw herself onto her bed. She closed her eyes and soon dozed off.

Jena roamed the dark corridors of a familiar place. She squinted her eyes to see better. A clearer picture showed of her ex-boyfriends house. She searched around for a way out. Jena did not want to see his house or his face ever again. She ran down the long hallway flashing her head from left to right to find an exit. All there was were pictures of her and him together forever. She ran and ran until her knees gave in. She stumbled to the floor her face smacking the hard wood floor. Jena quickly picked her self up and kept running. She saw light ahead. It was a door. Light crept through the ends of the door. The rays caressed the darkness. Jena walked foot over foot to the door. All was silent except her loud footsteps coming closer and closer to the door. She lifted her arm out and put her hand on the cool knob. She turned it cautiously and walked through the door. Her eyes went wide to what she was seeing. It was Brent’s room filled with pictures of her in many shapes and forms. Jena wanted to leave but couldn’t help but stay and search the room. She walked over to Brent’s bed and sat down. Over towards the window was her hamster cage. Inside her hamster was choking on a seashell. She got off the bed and ran over to help her hamster. It was too late the hamster had died with the seashell half way down its throat. She cried out and went to leave the room. The door slammed shut and Brent walked in. He did not recognize Jena. He shuffled his feet towards the window and completely ignored Jena. A long pause of silence came upon them. Soon after, Brent started talking to Jena about there relationship. Heat rose up in the house. Smoke and steam appeared from the door and the window. Fire caught on everything Jena looked at. She screamed and ran out of the house with Brent. Outside of the house an old lady sat on a bench. She looked at the both of them.

“You mustn’t go back there! You mustn’t!” She said her voice high and cracking. The old lady stared at the tree by her side. Brent and Jena carefully ran back into the burning house. The house turned to ashes and lay in the fiery soil.

Something woke Jena up. She looked around her room. The room still looked the same. Her posters hanging from the wall and the mirror still there too. She sighed in relief and pulled herself out of bed. Jena blinked at the clock. It read 8:20. She got on some clean clothes and walked down the stairs still tired from work last night. Jena’s mom was already off to work. She would be gone the rest of the day. Jena went into the kitchen and took out a glass from the cabinet. She carried it over to the refrigerator and opened the door. She looked for the milk and took it out. She turned the cap of the milk and poured it into her glass. Satisfying her need for milk she then put it back into the fridge and walked to the living room. Jena sat down on the couch and stared blankly at the coffee table. She shot back to reality and just remembered that she had left her shorts at Brent’s house. She put a disgusted look on her face and decided that she wasn’t going to go over there for a pair of shorts.

It was now noon and Jena had still not moved from the couch. She grabbed the remote and turned on her T.V. Jena flipped through a few channels until she found the music station. Her favorite song was on. She kept it playing and bobbed her head to the tune of the music. She thought about her ex-boyfriend again. She wanted to talk to him now. All she could think of since last night was Brent. How he slapped her how her dream seemed so real. It was to much for her. She was going to talk to Brent whether he wanted to or not. Jena got off the couch and went to the phone. She picked it up and dialed his number. It rang and rang. Nobody answered. She figured that he wouldn’t answer since he had caller I.D. Jena grabbed her coat this time and shut the door behind her. Outside it was still pretty cool. She put on her coat and got into her car. Jena drove faster than last night. This time when she saw Brent she was going to tell it straight to his face it was really over. She would never talk to him again after that. She would go home and never answer her phone.

She parked the car sloppily. She would only be a few moments. She quickly walked up to the front door her hands at her sides swaying back and forth furiously. Jena pounded on the door with her fist. She pounded a few more times before she noticed that there was no one to be found in the house. She thought it was cute that Brent was going to chicken out and not talk to her. She turned the door knob. Surprisingly the door was unlocked. She headed in side and started towards the upstairs. Jena was not going to be stopped at anything. She was going to march right into Brent’s room and tell him what she thought.

The door was right in front of her. She did not budge. Jena wasn’t going to back down now. She opened up the door and walked inside. She had a lump in her throat and was nervous at confronting Brent. She started to say something but then found that Brent was not there. Instead she found pictures covering the walls of herself. She gasped at the sight of all of them. Jena looked around the room. All of it looked so familiar. The window in the same spot. Her hamsters cage lying right below it. Jena wanted to leave right now. She couldn’t move. She felt as if she was glued to the spot she was standing at. Jena started to cry. She gazed over at her hamsters cage. Her hamster was choking on a seashell. She tried to save him but couldn’t. The hamster died with half of the seashell hanging out of its mouth. Jean screamed with anger and frustration. She cried even more. The tears ran down her cheeks and seeped into her soft skin. The door slammed shut in front of her. Brent was there in place of the door. He did not notice Jena and walked to the window. He completely ignored her and stayed silent. A long pause of silence came upon them. All Jena could hear was herself sob. Brent began to talk to her. He was talking about there relationship. He said that he did not want to see her again and then turned around. He glared at her and started screaming. Jena stopped crying and then began to scream at him too. They screamed at each other for what seemed like a perpetual moment. Smoke and Steam rose from the room door and window. Heat came from the hard wood floor. Everything that Jena looked at started on fire. Jena screamed and ran out of the house with Brent. They ran towards the road. An old lady sat a bench staring at them. She kept staring at them with her cane in one hand.

“You mustn’t go back there! You mustn’t!” She said. The old lady turned her head away from them and over to a tree next to her. Brent and Jena both ran back into the house. Flames rose everywhere. The house fell with wood splintering and carpets smoldered. The house landed on the fiery soil.