Rising Time
By Christopher

  "We're gonna have ourselves a hanging!"
  It was then that I knew everything was gone, and thus going down hill.  It
was then that all that I have ever once cared for was gone, no family, no
friends, nothing, all by my lonesome.  Perhaps I should start from the
beginning.
  It was a seemingly nice day to begin with, sunny day, quiet neighborhood.
We all lived in this very small town, everyone knew each other, not even 500
people in the town.  It was a nice, rural town, and I owned a coffee shop there
(actually more of a diner).  Well, actually and technically, not everyone knew
everyone, there was this one kid that seemed to appear and vanish, this deemed
"Invisible Kid", but I'm streeming off subject.
  In any case, a young couple were having trouble, Jamie and Elizabeth were
their names.  Now, they had been going out for years, and Elizabeth had been
cheating on Jamie with another guy, Alex.  Everyone knew this, everyone except
Jamie.  It eventually happened, thought, Jamie found out, but he didn't know
who, nor would he listen through all his rage.  Finally the terrible happened,
it was a warm day in the sun, Elizabeth sitting on a bench, weeping, and some
other dude, Michael, was sitting on the fountain.  Jamie came storming through,
and started yelling at Elizabeth.  He eventually shot Michael, thinking and
saying that he was the Alex, while my friend Daniel went after Jamie for the
gun, and got shot, too.  Jamie eventually got arrested, I don't care what else
happened to him, he killed my friend.
  Well, the next occurrence happened rather soon after that, but this was much
worse through my perspective.  Apparently there was this cop that had been
stalking my girlfriend Sarah, and when I finally stood up to him, he went away,
but came back with all this bullshit and ordered all me friends and I arrested
and killed.  Well, that wasn't fun, I tell you what.  Before I knew it, my
friends Carl and William were killed.  So eventually, myself, Sarah, Jacob,
and Jamal went up onto a cliff out of town.  It was a nice cliff, grass and
trees and bushes, then at the bottom of the cliff was rocks and the sea.
  Well, they found us, that rat-bastard had his thugs knock off Jamal, Jacob
fled like hell, and then it was just me and my beloved Sarah.  Then the asshole
broke us apart, held me back with his thugs, and went over to my Sarah.  That
fuck, he grabbed her by her head, glared into her eyes, licked her neck, then
shoved her off the cliff.  I was let go after the fucker disappeared into the
crowd again.  I rushed to the edge on my hands and knees, and peered down.  I
saw my beloved Sarah on the rocks, sprawled out and lifeless.  For some reason
he ordered them not to kill me just then.  Tormenting bastard.
  That afternoon, it had gotten late, the sky a blood red and orange from the
sun setting.  I'm guessing that this had nothing to do with the stalker.  The
majority of the town were a superstitious lot, and my friend Jacob was the only
redhead in the whole town.  The assholes thought him a witch, and blamed him
for the red-orange sky.  Now this was just wrong in so many ways, they took him
ripped off all his clothes, and dragged him out of my house and through the
streets.  But before he was dragged out my house, the poor soul looked back at
me and shouted above the crowd to me, "I'll be dancing with their skeletons!"
  As I said, they ripped off his clothes and dragged him around the town,
chanting and shouting in joy.  They eventually brought him to an empty lot in
an apartment complex.  Lightning brewed and it began to rain lightly.  The
crazy fucks took him to the emergency exit platforms and ladders on the side
of the apartment, the bulky bodybuilder/mayor pulling Jacob by the back of his
neck, pulling him behind himself.  Each story they raised the rain seemed to
get heavier.  The mayor finally reached about the fifth story, a rope and noose
on the railing.  He tied it around Jacob's neck and threw him over.
  Now, I fought this whole time my way up, but ... it happened, and I broke
down.  I don't remember what happened after that, but I woke up on the floor of
my bedroom.  I felt the need to write this so i sat down at my desk with my
small lamp and journal that I've never used until now.
  It's raining heavily, now, pitch dark outside except with the street lights.
There's a commotion outside which started a short moment ago, a hard banging
at my door.  I know who it is, the stalker.  I'm not going to let that fuck
live after hat he's done, I'm not going to ---