Dead Land Journal August 21st? 2027

Woke up this morning with a pounding sinus headache, but Lisa already had the coffee brewing. She's always been a morning person. I washed a couple of Excedrin down with half a cup of coffee. Lisa even put some hot cocoa mix in it, just the way I like it when I have a headache. With my headache already fading after half an hour I looked up to watch Lisa as she fixed breakfast. I set down my coffee and quietly crept up behind her. I slipped my arms around her and kissed her on the neck just under the ear. She melted back against me and told me to take her back to bed. It's a Saturday I don't have anywhere I need to be anytime soon so I was rather agreeable to that proposal.

Of course Chris chose that moment to come running out of his bedroom his red hair a tangled mop, the feet of his PJs slipping and skidding on the hardwood floor. I am going to have give him a haircut soon. So many barbers won't cut toddler's hair anymore.

"Toons, Daddy, Toons!" he was yelling. Last year I purchased a bunch of old classic cartoons for Chris. My father grew up watching cartoons Saturday mornings. That is when the weather conditions outside kept him in. By the time I came around Saturday morning cartoons were pretty much a thing of the past, Unless you sprung for the Cartoon Network on cable. But even then, so many of those were not really appropriate for children. So my father had purchased a bunch of old classic cartoons for me to watch on Saturday morning when the weather would not allow me to play outside. I continued the tradition with Chris.

It was raining this morning so Chris sat on my lap watching Roadrunner cartoons going "Beep Beep!" everytime Wile E. Coyote outsmarted himself and the Roadrunner got away. Lisa was knitting on the couch next to us and Chris would occasionally tug on her yarn causing her to drop a stitch or two. She would scold him gently and stick her tongue out at him and they would both giggle. I have never been happier in my life.

Suddenly the TV went blank and the lights went dark. Chris was gone. Lisa set down her knitting and said to me "I'd love to stay James, but you killed me and you don't deserve to be this happy." Then she turned to dust before my eyes.

I woke up crying, the headache in my dream returning in reality. The rain was just pounding on the Uni's roof.

The dream was so real, it was like I was being given a glimpse into what could have been, just so I could be tortured more effectively by current circumstances.

Dee is gone.



August 21st 2027 again

Sorry, I just could not go on there for a while.

A wraith took her away last night. Maybe two nights ago. I am a bit fuzzy on details right now. Probably the damn painkillers Kathy gave me. Don't even really know what time it is. The way it's raining I don't even have the sun to go by.

We were coming back from getting some dog food for Emily when it set on us. It was raining then too, so it was dark early. It just appeared out of the shadows, like a... well like a wraith. It grabbed Dee and tried to take off with her. I tried to fight it off but it was just too powerful and the rain had made its hide slick, it was like a wet raincoat except for the mane of bristles around his head neck and back. During the struggle it stabbed me in the gut. Then it picked her up in one paw and ran off on in three legged gait that looked awkward but covered a lot of ground quickly. I was able to pick up the gun that I had lost in the struggle and fire off a couple of shots before I passed out. Before I passed out I remember hoping that she didn't mistake the gunshots for thunder.

Kathy says that I am lucky it didn't hit anything vital. Burns like HELL though. She also pumped me full of antibiotics as a precaution. I lost a lot of blood and I am too weak to go out searching, Kathy is out there now. If Emily were not in such bad shape, I know she would be out there too. But everytime she gets up her feet start bleeding again.

I feel so useless here.

Dammit, why did I not think to get some walkie-talkie while I was at Wal-Mart?

just made teh mistake of tryng too get up shit this hurtz going to put this away for now

Dead Land Journal August 21st 2027 again

Dee is Back!!!

Katherine found her not too far from the Uni. She was in a drainage ditch and if Kathy had not found her when she did she would have most likely drowned. It was thanks to a serendipitous bolt of lightning that she saw Dee there at all. Kathy says that just one second later or sooner and she would have missed Dee completely.

Aside from some scratches, bumps and bruises she was suffering from a bit of hypothermia. Kathy says that she will be fine.

In my mind I kept reliving that night we left Independence, only instead of a doll being impaled by the wraith's claw it was Dee. Emily has been thankfully well behaved and not climbing in bed with Dee. I don't think Katherine would be too tolerant of that right now.

© 2009 R. Keith McBride