Arribus

Never Alone. The metallic click was surprisingly loud as Otis turned the lock on the heavy door, sliding the bolt into place. He smiled to himself warmly as he looked out the window and watched the young couple, who had just bought a beautiful wreath, walking away from his shop and into the cold night. They had been telling him how it was their first Christmas as husband and wife and they were so excited to begin decorating their house that they had just moved into.  Otis didn't mention it but he had also noticed the little pooch around the young woman's midsection and wondered how far long she was. It was already late November so there was

   You enter a small room; smoke hangs heavy in the air. The only light in the room is a fire that has been built in the middle of the room and on the other side of it a young man sits on the floor with his legs crossed and a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Although most of his face is covered in shadow you can make out a charming smile dancing across his lips.   "Come in," the young man says to you "come in my friend." You can make out a heavy accent, most likely of eastern European origin.   "Please, sit. I have a story to tell you. That is why you came is it not?" he shrugs, "perhaps it is not, but I am a story teller and so now that

DAY 1 Today I saw something I never imagined I'd see. I had just come from the riverside and was in town buying supplies when the most beautiful creature I had ever seen met my eyes. Her skin was pale and perfect as the newly fallen snow; her lips were red as my roses that grow by the river, bloody and wild. As I passed her, our eyes locked for a moment and she smiled at me. I think I could have been lost in the scarlet smile for an eternity. Such a warm innocent smile and yet there was something sad behind it. I asked some of the people in the town who she was. Some were hesitant to tell me much. I don't make it into town often and I think

Day 2 I haven't been able to stop thinking about her. I went to where she lives last night and took her into my arms.  I could sense her pain. I wanted nothing more at that right then than to ease it for a time until I could cure her forever. I went to see my roses this morning and I was reminded again of how like them she is. My wild roses that sit on the river bank, swaying gently in the breeze. Their bloody pedals lifted to the sun in praise as if rejoicing in whatever god gave them life. I picked one of them today. It was the first time I had ever done such a thing but it seemed fitting. I needed to give her a taste of what would t

DAY 3 I woke up this morning and he was lying next to me. I simply smiled and watched him sleep for a while. His chest rising slowly with his every breath. I began to think about the future that I could have with this man. A family, children, a happy life. I sighed contentedly and lay there in bed for a few more minutes before getting up and making him breakfast. As I stood in the kitchen I remember that he had wanted to take me somewhere. Where was it? It didn't seem to matter. Wherever it was, being with him would make it wonderful. He walked into the kitchen, as I was finishing the food. I heard him approach. Turning to say hello I st

Starfleet Academy is a scary place. You wouldn't think so, nobody does, I sure didn't. Not at first anyway. At first we think "seek out new life and strange civilizations, go boldly where no one had gone before." At least that's what I thought I was looking for adventure, intrigue and maybe even a little romance. Well, let me tell you, it doesn't start out that way. The academy (at least the first year) is: classes, classes, yes sir, more classes, no sir, did I say classes? Getting up at zero dark thirty and going to bed at . . . I've stopped keeping track of when I go to bed. Not to mention a Bolian roommate named Vell who sounds like a targ

Tangible darkness enveloped his body as he lay motionless on a flat, soft surface he assumed to be a bed. Nothing felt quite real. He called out, or so he thought, but no sound escaped his lips. He tried to move but his body remained frozen to the spot where it lay. He could feel the surface under him against his skin and he guessed he must have been naked. He wasn't sure how he had gotten there or how long he had been there but after a few moments he gave up his struggling. He tried to look around; nothing. Blackness every where he could see and he wasn't sure how much he could actually see. He thought he was turning his head, but was he? He

Some one very dear to me once told me that life is too short for regrets; that we should live our lives and never look back. I now know that these are some of the most foolish words that have ever been spoken to me. There is all too much time for building regrets even in a person's life time of only thirty years. I look back now at the choices I've made and the things that I've done and there's very little there other than regret. Each and every turn on the road of my life another in a long line of bad choices that can never be made right. When did it start? I ask myself now. When did I start making these choices? I don't know. I can't rem

I'm hungry. Its early morning and I need to eat. I don't eat often, fortunately for you, but it's time for me to eat again. Do I eat in or should I go out? I get up and look in the refrigerator but there isn't much in there that really interests me. It's all old and stale; nothing I find appetizing. So that settles it. I get dressed. I don't bother taking a shower; it's just breakfast, not like I'm going somewhere nice. That's an amusing thought. Why is it amusing? It just is. Strange things strike me as funny but then again I'm a strange . . . person. That's such a generic word isn't it? What makes some one a person? Is it a term reserve

Where am I? Was the first thing he thought when he opened eyes and saw an unfamiliar ceiling. A fan was rotating slowly above him and he could make out one blade with a deep scratch in the wooden surface that would pass over his face ever two seconds or so.  He took a deep breath through his nose and the room smelled stale. Like the air hadn't moved in weeks, maybe months. Even with the fan above him the air didn't move and the smell was of dirty motels and cheep slum apartments. It wasn't a pleasant smell. Like sex and mothballs. He curled his fingers and gripped the sheets underneath him. They felt cold and as stale and dirty as the air ar