VOL 1. A collection of bizarre stories

The Bridge of Emily Wrack

By the door behind the sofa was the rifle. She accepted his apology, but her husband looked at him with demonic eyes. Her back tingled. It wasn't long before he realized he was in the church and the elderly priest was looking into his eyes.
     Venesa and Emily Wrack did not go out on the town looking for a man with lots of money or try to get him to buy a bunch of clothes for them like they did before. Those days were over, and now Emily was watching a rabbit hopping graciously through Ms. Verna's vegetable garden in Palm Springs.
     One of her old boyfriends showed up with a basket of zombie movies that year. "Hey, Emily, wanna watch some zombie movies with blood, guts, and gore? You like this kind of stuff, right?" Emily was not pleased and decided she had to do laundry that day. She closed the door on Steve. Emily took a shower upstairs in her mother's house after some time had passed.
     Steve Hembrook possessed a brood shoulder. When he visited the Tower of London, the so-called ghost of Anne Boleyn was seen walking around holding her beheaded head in her arms. He was running across an abandoned old bridge near the Tower of London with a few school friends. One of his friends, Bennie Morgans, fell to his death, falling fifty feet below to a little sand embankment. Despite the fact that it was an accident, it was one that could have been avoided. Bennie's stupidity killed him.
     A football injury had already bandaged the boy's ankle. Steve's friend Jeremaih, Joshua Hughes' brother, kicked Bennie in the shin as hard as he could when he was trying to get the ball away from him. He wasn't wearing shin guards that day because he couldn't find them, or they were stolen from his gear bag on the way to practice. Bennie was out of commission for several weeks due to the impact of Jeremaih's cleats. That day, he was still not fully recovered when he met his demise on the bridge. Overlooking the bridge from the top, as Bennie's body lay motionless, Steve, Joshua, and Jeremiah watched him squirm in pain.
     Steve was at the store that wasn't too far from where Emily lived. She agreed to go to the fair with him. It was the last year the state fair would ever be there. Upon searching for some cheese at the store, Steve overheard two lesbians talking. He knew this because one of the girls grabbed the other's ass cheek after the other misunderstood what she said.
     "Oh shit," she said quickly. Too quick for the other to make out that 'oh shit' sounded like 'eat shit' to her. Steve brushed by the two and sort of giggled. He kept blaming himself for Bennie's death, and although it was years ago, he always believed it was his fault.
     Standing in the aisle now, peering at the ketchup, he was thinking, 'It was me that got him to play soccer that day, and it was me that persuaded him to walk out on the bridge. I'm responsible, he thought. Then, he remembered what Bennie said with his last bit of breath. 'SPIDER'. He did recall a small spider that day on the bridge scurrying around. I don't know, Steve thought.
     Steve felt guilty for many things, but one thing he did for Emily at the fair, and something he wished he could've done for Bennie, was save her life. Emily slipped into the bear enclosure at Benny The Bears Play Pin, one of the attractions. She was bitten by the bear as it rushed over to her. Steve's quick action saved her that day. Acknowledging people is important. Steve learned this after a long time, but now he knows.
     During that afternoon, the bear keeper slept by the gray wall outside the enclosure gate. This gate prevents the bear from entering a larger area of the enclosure. While he slept, Steve ran over and yanked him up by his gray hair and yelled, "Look! Look! Look!...the Fucking Bear!" The girl was saved because the bear would only answer to the keeper. He was an old Chinese man named Yaulkzdol. He yelled, "Karuoshka! Karuoshka! The bear's real name. This caused the bear to run away from the girl and into a shaded area in the enclosure, where everything went back to normal. As Emily climbed up, Steve grabbed her hand and pulled her thin flat butt over the wall.
     Bennie was a good friend. Now the fair was full of spectators taking pictures of Emily. She broke the news, but it didn't matter to Steve. He enjoyed the feeling of camaraderie when he was with Emily. The two walked on as a small crowd followed them. "Emily, you are amazing," one boy cried out. "Emily, you are invincible; are you a demon?" Emily said nothing. Perhaps she was the elderly priest who punished her by blindfolding her and saying the donkey was in the pool.
     6:52 p.m.
     There was an announcement on the speakers at the main gate where Emily, Steve, and fairgoers were anxiously awaiting to exit. "All, thank ya all for coming and we are sorry, but this will be it for the fair here in beautiful Palm Springs. Hope you all get home safely! Goodbye and goodnight!" Some kids threw some Budweiser cans up at the speaker and began heckling with loud boos.
     The fireworks were starting in the parking lot. It wasn't the fourth of July, but in four days it would be. Neither Steve nor Emily looked impressed but felt rather humiliated and defeated by all that had happened to them in their lives. They felt some force, the mysterious haunting force of the elderly Priest constantly strangling their souls and stealing their confidence away from them. The two walked home, past the 'evil forest' which they liked to call it. Soon, they were back at her mother's house.
     "Goodnight, Steve." No kiss this time, just an awkward stare.
     "Goodbye Emily." There were tears in his eyes, and he was sick of crying in front of girls like Emily, so he tried to turn around before she could notice. However, she did...
     "Steeeve? Steeeve?...I lov...I l o ve!..." then she sighed in a quiet tone, "I love you," falling to her knees and breaking down and crying herself.