THE NIGHTMARE WITHIN: Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Just inside the doors of the Warren Cove bus station, Kevin already lagged behind his parents.  He couldn't help it.  His excitement about the trip to Chicago made him have to take a leak that could put out a forest fire.  The station wasn't crowded since it was so early in the morning.  Even so, a woman clipped Kevin on the shoulder as she rushed to catch a bus on time.

"Sorry," the woman said, barely giving him a glance.

"No problem, Mrs. Hepner."  Warren Cove was a small town, nothing more than a rest stop in a long journey through the endless farm fields of central Illinois.  Kevin had started a newspaper route when school let out two weeks ago, and he already knew every customer on his route by name and face.  Mrs. Hepner lived four blocks away.  Kevin delivered to her the thin Cove Herald every other weekday and on weekends.

"Oh… Hi."  Mrs. Hepner gave him a vague look of recognition, her freshly applied makeup making her look like a clown.

"Kevin Dvorak.  I deliver your paper."

"Yes.  Sorry, Kevin.  I'm running late."  Mrs. Hepner looked at her watch, looked even more exasperated, and gave him a slight wave.  "You're doing a fine job with the paper.  Better than that Callahan boy ever did.  I'll see you later."

Whenever he saw one of his customers, he made an effort to acknowledge them, hopefully resulting in better tips.  His parents trudged on ahead, distracted, without looking back to see if he was keeping up.  He could probably ditch them and duck into a restroom, but they would throw a fit even though he felt old enough.  They let him ride his bike at 5:30 in the morning for his route, but wouldn't let him go to a public restroom on his own.  Go figure.

He was getting desperate.  His palms were sweaty and it pained him to walk.  Stopping in mid-stride, he called out to his dad, but he didn't seem to hear.  The overhead lights were so white, like the lights he imagined shining down in an operating room.  The tile floor echoed his mom's heel clicks, seeming to amplify them.  His dad tried to take hold of her hand, as he often did when they walked together, but she shrugged off the attempt.  She increased her distance from him and their hands swept by at their sides, alone and empty.

He felt like screaming, anything to get their attention.  But he didn't want to anger his dad.  He was angry a lot lately.  Something about his job, and people at his job.  Whatever it was made his mom angry, too.  She focused her anger more at his dad, while at the same time, his dad would grumble under his breath about things Kevin didn't really know about.  Things like entrapment.  Things like harassment.

Kevin had an idea about harassment.  People talked about it all the time on T.V., boring him to the point he'd change the channel in search of cartoons.  He was fuzzy about entrapment.  It sounded like something straight from one of the army movies his dad liked.

Walking faster through the station, Kevin focused on keeping his bladder full, trying not to think of anything wet or anything cold.  Or anything wet and cold.

"Dad!"  This time tension strengthened his voice, cutting through the empty bus station.  His dad turned around, and after a couple of steps so did his mom.

"For God's sake, what is it, Kevin?"  His dad looked tired, like he hadn't slept in a thousand years.

"I have to go…" Kevin started to say, but then just nodded his head and bugged out his eyes, the obvious universal sign for MY BLADDER IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE!

"Can't this wait?  The bus is about to board.  You can use the bus toilet after you find your seat."

It would be a mad thrill to take a leak while on a moving bus, but Kevin couldn't wait."I-Have-To-Go…" Kevin explained.