I saw Joe Reed sitting in a booth in the back of Dugan’s Bar & Grill, sipping a beer, staring forward, minding his business. Problem was – Joe Reed was dead. Killed by a heart attack six months ago at the age of forty-eight. My age. I had attended his funeral.

After squinting back there for a time, I shrugged it off. I waved the bartender over for another beer and tried watching a ball game on the small color TV on a shelf above the bar. But every now and then, I couldn’t resist glancing over my shoulder at the Joe Reed look-a-like. (more…)

Raphael Diego sat trembling in the small dark room. A single light bulb swung gently on a long cord. The bulb itself had blown some weeks ago, but Raphael still hadn’t noticed. The small beams of sunlight that would have otherwise seeped in through the tightly drawn shades were completely suffocated by thick dark blue comforters the man had tacked to the walls above the windows. The faint stench of mildew wafted from the walls, and the carpet under Raphael’s knees was damp, as if dew had somehow found its way into the drab little room. An ugly tan spot dotted with greenish-blue mold that sat lazily on the ceiling; the remnants of an old leak (Raphael often thought the mark resembled a chili pepper). (more…)

I think I’m seven bor maybe I’m six and a half still. I know my birthday is January 6^th, 2006. But I forgot which day is today.  Mommy forgot to put a calendar in the room when she locked the door. Yesterday it was September 9^th, 2012 when she locked the door. I remember because Mommy says I have a special brain.  I have High-Flying Autism and no one remembers like I do. Not even Indigo bor Daddy bor Maple bor even Mommy. (more…)

My wife Lilly walked out on the front porch and waved to me while I was trimming the hedges. Sweat from the warm summer evening was trickling down the side of my face, matting my unkempt blond hair to my head. I wiped my forehead with the back of my arm and walked over to meet her, dropping the hedge clippers at my feet. Lilly was a rare woman indeed. Her skin was the color of milkweed fluff and her eyes were a mirror for the sunlit maple leaves surrounding the house. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a long braid down her back; a few loose strands dangled in her face. (more…)

It started with a light, the end of a tunnel. A flash, intense and blinding, then everything changed for me.  Forever.

I open my eyes; all I see is blurred and deformed. What could have been images of reality seem to have melted, always out of focus. And that smell. Decayed flesh, dried blood and bones. I leave, the room so cold. Rise… (more…)

Well, the guys at TOWWZ were mildly impressed by my story of fighting off zombies in the Amazon. By mildly impressed, I mean they threatened me with a restraining order, but didn’t follow through. And by fighting off zombies in the Amazon, I mean ducking and jiving, and climbing lots of trees, and pushing fat guys into the shuffling herds of the undead.  I’d rather not talk about zombies, though. (more…)

1 – The Victor

Two men entered at either end of the ring, marked only by small rocks crudely laid out on the dirty ground; a mixture of sand, dry mud and the odd patch of grass which remained resistant to the foot falls of the many who had stood there. The crowd surrounding them cheering and hooting, fists pumping in the air brought to a frenzy of the spectacle they were about to witness. (more…)

Involuntarily my face screws up in anguish. My eyes clenched to prevent escaping tears. I want to heave with sobs and shout and rage at the injustice, at the horror, and at the loss of it all. I want to stand up and take my gun and fight until every last one of those things is a proper corpse. Just as it should be. I screw my face up harder. I can’t take this anymore. I think of happier times. Her third birthday, on a beautiful summer, sunny day. Unlike mine in the depths of January, her birthday will always be full of sun and laughter. In a pretty pink party dress and light up trainers, set off with a pair of Mum-made tissue fairy wings. She bounces around singing some inappropriate pop song while I try, and fail, to fashion a horse from balloons for her rapt friends. Here and now, my chest aches from holding back great, tearing sobs. I bury my nose in her soft blonde hair. It smells of smoke and grime but beneath that it still her unmistakable sweet smell. My girl. My daughter. (more…)

Looking across the sofa at Harry now, playing with Lola, our War Orphan Adoption Act baby, it’s difficult to believe the circumstances in which I first met my husband.

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It is with a deep sadness, and a heavy heart, I would like to announce that Cindy DeRego, wife of longstanding TOWWZ contributor Jeffrey DeRego, lost her long battle with Leukemia and died on the 8th October. (more…)

The hunter sat with his back against the thick loblolly pine and felt his shoulders dig into the wet bark. The gnat hat, a screen of camouflage mesh, covered his face and neck, but still the little bastards made their way in and attacked his sweaty skin. As they took their blood meal, his only reaction was to blink and will them to hurry it up. He absolutely refused to move. Movement gave you away. (more…)