I was standing in a dark room, there were no windows or furnishings, just a wooden

door.
There was no light source, yet the room flickered an orangish glow, as if there
was a candle somewhere.
I stood there confused about the room for a few minutes when my wife walked
through the door, "Charon, please don't." I pleaded as she pulled a knife from her
pocket.
She slowly pulled the knife across her neck, I was frozen in that spot, she was
too far away to reach, "Charon, no!" I cried through a shaking voice as a tear
left my eye.
She was bleeding heavily as the knife left her throat, she fell to her knees, "I
love you Jeff." She said through a blood gargled throat.
"I'm so sorry Charon, I'm so sorry" I was crying heavily, my whole body was
shaking but I still couldn't move from that spot.
She fell to the ground in a puddle of blood. "I love you Charon, please come
back." I cried, I started falling backwards, as soon as I hit the ground I was
startled awake by my alarm clock.
It was 5:00 A.M and my wife was sound asleep next to me, all curled up in the
comforter.
I reached for my glasses and accidently hit the radio button on my alarm clock.
The volume was full blast.
"GOOOOOOOD MORNING DES MOINES THIS IS YOUR DJ..." Being half asleep I first picked
up my phone to see if it was talking to me.
"STAY TUNED TO LEARN HOW..." I finally realized it was the alarm clock and pressed
every button on it until I reached the off button.
By now, my wife was starting to sit up and was rubbing bloodshot eyes.
"Honey what was that?" She said sleepily.
"Sorry about that, I accidently turned on my alarm clock, it's ok." I reassured
her as I rubbed my forehead.
"Well I- huh- guess I might aswell stay- aghhhh- up." She said shakily through a
yawn.
I walked into the bathroom to drain myself of the terrifyingly horrible nightmare
I had just had.
After flushing the toilet I looked at myself in the mirror.
I really need to shave.
I turned off the light and walked to the kitchen, I poured some coffe and went
into my office to do some last minute organizing.
What was that dream all about? Why would I dream such a horrible thing? Was it my
guilt of not being able to support my family?
I heard Charon pouring coffee for herself, there was the pang of a pan and the
fridge opened and closed. She was making breakfast.
I finished organizing the complaints, drained my coffee and went into the bedroom
to get dressed.
I came into the kitchen, I was slapped in the face by the smell of bacon, eggs,
and toast.
I kissed Charon and told her good morning. A much more formal way to say good
morning rather than explaining a screaming alarm clock.
Breakfast was excellent, I had another cup of coffe and kissed her once again for
a goodbye. "Have a good day at work."
Why was she in such a good mood today?
I walked outside to the bite of a cold winter morning, I dusted the snow off my
windshield and went in to start the car.
I backed up and saw David, my neighbor, getting the newspaper in a green robe. I
waved at him and pulled into the road to be on my way to work.
Work was only 30 minutes away, but morning traffic made it an hour, it was the
norm so I learned not to be agitated by it.
I made my way into the office and said mornin' to my groggy co-workers on my way
to my cubicle.
I hated this place, I hated these people. Except for Charles; a friend of mine who
worked in the next cubicle over.
Charles had recently gotten divorced and had been pretty depressed lately, I tried
my best to coach him out of it.
How ironic.
I handed my boss the complaints and dragged myself through another eye gouging day
of work.
Lunch that day was boring as usual, I reassured Charles that everything would be
ok for the millionth time as I ate a mediocre turky sandwich that I picked up at
the gas station.
On the way home I made a run to the ABC store for a bottle of scotch: My liquid
cure for depression.
As I walked into the door of my home I found my son, Paul, watching the television
in the living room.
Have I introduced Paul yet? I don't think I have. Paul is 14, he loves heavy metal
music (Influenced by me) and has only a few friends in school. He isn't the most
popular guy but he still gets along.
"Hey Paul, where's mom?" I inquired as I hung my coat on the coat rack.
"Mom's at the bank, she said she'll be right back." He said, not taking his eyes
off the TV screen.
"Oh, and your sister?"
"Victoria's in her room talking to her friend on the phone." He said, still fixed
on the TV.
"Oh ok, well I'm taking you guys out to get your school shi- ehh... stuff, as soon
as your mom gets back." I informed him with regret.
I really need to watch my language.
"Uuughhh..." He growled, he was finally looking at me, "Can't we go tomorrow?" He
pleaded.
"No, school starts tomorrow and you need pencils and binders and all that." I said
with arms crossed. Dammit I'm acting like Charon.
"Ugggh, fine." He said, turning his head back towards the TV, he hated shopping as
much as I did, if not more.
Victoria, on the other hand, loved shopping and I'm sure she would be more than
happy to go.
I went into my office to put a new handfull of complaints on my desk to sort.
I just loved doing useless work.
I proceeded to go tell Victoria about our plans for today, halfway down the hall I
could hear music, Victoria was yelling over it.
"AND THEN HE SAID..." I walked into her room, "HEY HONEY CAN YOU TURN YOUR MUSIC
DOWN?" She was sitting on her bed on the phone.
She promptly turned down her music and said "Hold on" into the phone, "What?" She
was annoyed.
"Why did you have on your music so loud if you were on the ph- Nevermind. Anyway,
we're going out to get you and Paul's school stuff today." I said, scratching the
ringing noise out of my ear.
Her face lit up, "Can I get-" A cd? Jewelry? A new purse? She always tried to con
me into getting her something she didn't need.
"No honey, we're going for school stuff and that's it." I flicked off an ear
booger, "Uggh, fine." She reached over and turned her music back on, "ANYWAY..." I
closed her door and walked out. Charon was home.
"Hey Jeff, I got the money, you might want to go soon before the traffic gets too
bad." She said, handing me a white sleeve of cash.
"Uh, ok. I already told the kids that we-" "What the hell is that noise? Whose
yelling?" She cut me off, god dammit can't she just listen to me for once, "That's
Victoria, she's on the phone." I said through clenched teeth. "If she's on the
phone then why-" "I don't know, I thought the same thing." This time I cut her
off, haha. "Well, I'll go tell her to get ready." Thank you. Thank you. "Ok" I
said, I sounded half asleep, but I was wide awake, was that voice even mine? Did
she say ok? "What?" "I didn't say anything." "Oh, sorry." My ears were still
ringing a little.
She walked down the hall and opened what I defined as a door to hell, in my mind
that is, if I told anyone else they'd think I was insane. Am I insane? Am I even
thinking to myself right now? Am I talking out loud? Oh god I hope I'm no- "Dad
I'm gonna go put on some deodorant and I'll be ready." Paul cut off my thoughts.
Sometimes I'm glad when people cut off my thoughts.
"Ehhh..." I was making sure I was actually making noise and not just thinking, it
was sort of like an off-stage soundcheck. "Ok."
I leaned against the back of the couch and observed what Paul had been watching:
Headbanger's Ball. "My son..." I said to myself with pride.
Victoria didn't like metal, quite the opposite infact, she hated metal.
Victoria preffered pop, and rap, which repulsed me, I tried not to let it bother
me but sometimes-
"Ready." The kids said in unison.
How long had I been standing there?
Victoria was being suffocated by a giant white ball of what I assumed to be a
coat, and there was something that resembled a dead squirrel wrapped around the
hood.
Paul was wearing a black Slayer hoody with the hood up, headphone wires were
potruding out from underneath his hood and dangling towards a bulge in his pocket.
I grabbed my own coat and we headed out into the winter air, it cut our lungs and
bit our faces.
I loved the cold, I loved winter, anything that keep those fucking spiders out of
my house was something to love.