Burning of the Jack

“What the…?”
Screeeeeech!
Pushing the brake almost through the floorboard, John barely missed a car stalled in the middle of the dark country road. His pulse pounded through the veins in his neck as he took a moment to collect himself. With building anger, he pulled to the side of the road. If this was some teenager’s idea of a Halloween prank…
“I am so sorry,” a man, John assumed the car’s driver, approached his truck. “Damn thing broke down and I couldn’t budge it.”
John rolled down his window, ready to let loose a string of profanity that would make sailors blush. But the stranger looked helpless in the country night. John stepped out of his truck and gestured toward the car.
“Maybe together we can move it before someone does plow into you. There’s that gravel on the side. We should push it there.”
“Sounds good.”
As they walked to the back of the car, John took a moment to study the stranger. He stood just a little shorter than John, and a little thinner. A nervousness hummed just underneath the surface of the well-dressed man. With some effort, they managed to move the car out of harm’s way and then made their way to the truck.
“My name is John… and yours?”
“Kyle.” The voice was tense.
Even in the dim light, John noticed Kyle’s pale skin and his veiled eyes. John already didn’t like the guy.
“And, I really appreciate your help. Didn’t know what I was gonna do.” Kyle stood in front of the truck and shoved his hands in his pants pockets.
“Don’t suppose you have a cell phone?” John asked. When Kyle shook his head ‘no’, John shrugged his shoulders. “Neither do I.”
An awkward silence fell between the two. John didn’t want to leave him out on the road alone, especially on Halloween. But, John didn’t want to get too involved, either.
With a tinge of hesitation, John broke the silence. “Hey, Kyle, hop in. You can call someone from my house to come get ya.”
Kyle nodded with a quick movement around his mouth that John assumed was supposed to be a smile. Once Kyle got seated, John started his truck and quickly turned down the radio.
“So where ya from, Kyle?”
“Shelby.”
“That’s quite a drive, man. What brings you down here?” At Kyle’s silence, John glanced over, awaiting his response.
“Well, I didn’t plan on coming here. It just happened. What about yourself?”
“I had to drop my two girls off at their mother’s for trick-or-treating. My one girl, Krista, is such a tomboy. She dressed like a football player. Can you believe it? But Lauren is the girlie girl. Tonight she’s going as a princess, tiara and all.” John smiled to himself at the picture they had made. No matter how he felt about his ex, those girls were his heart.
As another long silence fell between the two men, John turned up the radio. One song ended and the DJ started the usual blather. “By the way, people, I want to remind everyone to be on the lookout for the person or persons who murdered the young woman in Shelby earlier today. They are presumed to be armed and dangerous. Do not approach them. Call the police.”
“Shelby?” John frowned. “Isn’t that where you said you…”
A gun stared him in the face. “Drive us to your place.”
“Damn!” John muttered under his breath. Turning to face the road, his hands clenched the steering wheel, his mind raced. Should he deliberately wreck the truck? Or pull into a gas station and try to run? Idiot, he scolded himself, there’s nothing between you and home but countryside.
“Don’t try anything stupid,” Kyle warned as if sensing John’s thoughts.
After an eternity of ten minutes, John pulled into the driveway and parked. With the gun so close to his face, the barrel seemed to be twenty feet long. Slowly moving his right hand, he turned off the engine and pulled the keys out of the ignition.
“I want you to follow me out on this side.” Kyle instructed. He stood beside the door, waiting for John to scoot across, and then followed him to the front door.
In spite of his resolve, John’s nerves got the best of him. The keys were fumbled and dropped. He wished there was something he could do, some noise he could make that would alert his neighbors. But, out in the country, all of his neighbors lived too far away. Finally, with the door unlocked and the lights on, John led Kyle toward the kitchen.
They sat on opposite sides of the table, Kyle still training the gun on him. John studied him for a moment, grateful that his girls weren’t home for this nightmare. Thinking of his girls brought John’s anger back. How dare this man invade their home?!
“Now what, you sick fuck?” John growled.
Kyle smiled, then laughed. “Let me worry about that.” He grabbed the cordless off the kitchen table and dialed. “I got a truck. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes… Yeah, yeah, I know. But the damn thing broke down… No, cops won’t see it. I had help getting it off the road.” Kyle gave John a sarcastic wink, making John’s stomach twist.
After Kyle hung up, he looked thoughtfully at John. “Now what am I gonna do with you? I’m already looking at life for cutting that girl into tiny pieces. What’s another dead body gonna do to me?”
The expression in Kyle’s eyes chilled John to the marrow. If ever there were soulless eyes, he was looking at them now. Fighting the fear rising in his chest, John glanced around the room for something — anything — to help him destroy this lunatic. His glance finally rested on the small can of Zippo fluid on the coffee table.
The gun’s hammer clicked, jerking John’s attention back to Kyle. “I hate to do this to ya, John.”
“Wait! Wait!” John raised one hand in supplication, desperate for a way to stall for time. “Can I at least have a smoke first?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Kyle nodded once. Pulling a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket, he tossed one over to John and stuck one between his own lips.
When John reached into his pants pocket for his lighter, Kyle waved the gun at him in warning. John flashed the lighter to Kyle in between his index finger and thumb.

“Chill out, man. Just gonna light this thing.” Acting as if he couldn’t get the lighter to strike, John shook it in frustration. “Out of lighter fluid.” He frowned and searched the room. “Ah, there it is. May I?” He pointed to the can in the living room.
“Yeah, sure. Just don’t go too far.”
John got up from the table and retrieved the Zippo can. Walking back to the kitchen, he leaned next to the jack-o-lantern on the counter and began refilling his lighter. Once that was done, he deliberately left the top off the can.
“My girls made this today,” he nodded to the pumpkin. “Here. Look.” John took off the top and reached in, lighting the candle inside. “It looks better in the dark, but it’s still kinda cute, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Kyle sounded mildly bored.
“I’m gonna miss my babies.” John lit his cigarette and looked Kyle in the eyes, his voice growing deeper. “You don’t have to do this, you know? You can take the truck and just drive away. Here’re the keys.” John tossed them on the table with a loud clink and then took a slow drag, awaiting Kyle’s response.
“I have to kill you. You’re in the way.”
“I was afraid you’d say that,” John shrugged his shoulders and tossed Kyle the lighter to light his cigarette. At that second’s distraction, John grabbed the jack-o-lantern, jerking the lid off, and threw it at Kyle. Just as the candle fell toward Kyle’s face, John quickly sprayed the Zippo fluid at the flame.
A huge ball of fire engulfed Kyle’s hair and shirt. Dropping the gun, Kyle frantically tore at his clothes. Now that he was unarmed, John threw Kyle through the screen door. Kyle jumped to his feet and raced around the front yard, panicked to find relief. The flames snapped and hissed, completely engulfing him as he collapsed, writhing in agony until the merciful release of death.
John watched the flames die down as his mind reeled the horror in front of him. “And that, my dear girls, is the scariest jack-o-lantern I’ve ever seen.”

Nightmare

There once
was a man
who dreamed
of emotions
and feelings.
He would dream
about love
and his woman
died
the next day.

He had a dream
of friendship
and his dog
died
the very
next day.

He saw
the doctor,
and the doctor
laughed and mocked
him.
“You can’t
bottle,
box,
or grab
emotions
and feelings.
They aren’t things
you can cage.”

The man
went home
depressed,
knowing that
all his dreams
of feelings
and emotions
turned to
death.

After his most
terrifying dream yet.
He went back
to see the doctor,
telling the doctor
of his new nightmare.
The doctor
laughed before
the man’s story
could be told.

“This one is terrible
doctor.
The worst one yet.
I dreamed of something,
a nightmare.
It doesn’t deal with
love,
friendship or
kindness.
It deals with
something.
Something more!
Something that
terrifies me
more than
before!

The doctor
asked
with a chuckle
as to what the
new nightmare was
about.

The man
with a terrified look
said,
“I had
a
dream
about you,
doctor.”

-Kurt Rees

©Copyright 2006 by Kurt Rees.
All rights reserved.

I Will Never See

You talk about
wanting to spread your wings.
Leaving me behind
to experience life
on your own.
The pain in my heart left
and my heart began to sink
into an abyss of sorrow.

I loved you
with all of this heart.
Those words didn’t mean much.
You told me,
another place,
another time,
would have been right for us.
There is no better time
than right now.
It didn’t mean much to you.

Will I see
a bright future?
No?
Maybe?
The pain now
is whether you will come back.
Thousands of miles
will separate us,
but I still have
a thread of hope.

It was a sad day
when you left.
I looked into your eyes
and my little thread of hope
disappeared.
It was that moment
I knew
I would never see you again.

-Kurt Rees

©Copyright 2008 by Kurt Rees.
All rights reserved.

New Americana

The new Americana
has arrived.
Respect for the flag
has been
lit on fire and destroyed.
Presidents from the turn of
last century
having passion
for others beliefs
and none of their own.
Baseball has been fading.
A ban on steroids,
and a lack of love
for the game.
Hot-dogs are different.
What size, flavor and kind
do you want?
Even apple pie is un-American,
unless made with organic apples.
You must wear a seat belt
as the guy on the hog
doesn’t wear a helmet.
The great American car
is slowly dying,
as Detroit goes bankrupt.
Barrels of brown sludge
at an all time high,
while it still pollutes our earth.
Pedro, with no taxes
while we pay his.
It is time we bend a little
in the new Americana.
I want to start by
making our beautiful flag
out of
flame retardant materials.

Although there are issues in America.
It is still the best country in the world.
Just ask Pedro.

-Kurt Rees

©Copyright 2008 by Kurt Rees.
All rights reserved.

Blues

One sold his soul
to play the blues.
Only to go through hell
to write about them.

I know,
that no matter how I feel,
there will always be someone
experiencing much worse
than I.

The music helps
the healing
and lets you know
the pain and hurt
are temporary.
If you listen
you can hear my soul
in the singers voice.

Being blue is
the darkest sense of color.
A sign of life
barely hanging on,
but I know
I’m not the only one
who suffers.

-Kurt Rees

©Copyright 2009 by Kurt Rees.
All rights reserved.

Bearded Clam

I was hungry
and went in
for a bite.
The place was packed,
but I found a seat
at the bar.
The bartender
was a great gal
and I decided
to have some fun.
After looking at the menu
I noticed that
the soup of the day
was clam chowder.
I kindly asked her if it was
New England or Bearded.
She slowly walked back
to the kitchen door,
opened it,
and screamed
to the cook.
“Is the chowder today
New England or Bearded?”
Everybody laughed.
When she found out
the definition of
a bearded clam,
everyone laughed again.

Including a great gal.

-Kurt Rees

©Copyright 2007 by Kurt Rees.
All rights reserved.

All Alone

She called me today.
It has been two years
since I heard from her.
I have moved on with my life,
and I thought
she moved on with hers.
I was wrong.
She never wanted
anymore children.
That and other issues
destroyed us.

She told me today
that her new
eight month old boy
is doing well.
It hurt listening to her.
Dagger after dagger
of old feelings and hurt
being brought up.

I wished her well,
but let her know
that I moved on
and that she should
do the same.
I thanked her for teaching
me what it meant
to be alone.

It is awful being alone,
but there is nothing worse
than being alone
with the wrong person
for the rest of your life.

-Kurt Rees

©Copyright 2007 by Kurt Rees.
All rights reserved.

The Kid

I went to
the grocery
the other day.
I remember having
a headache
and not feeling well.

I was going
up and down aisles,
throwing things
into the cart.
I came to one aisle
and saw a little boy
around two or three
years of age.

He had a huge box
of cereal in his grasp
and handed it up to his mom,
that didn’t seem to interested
at his choice.
After the mother
told him to put the box
back a few times,
the child went into
a rage.

He threw the box down
and had a tantrum
in the middle
of the store.
I wasn’t fond
of it either
since my headache
suddenly became
increasingly painful,
with every scream
this kid belted out.

After the mother
put the box back
on the bottom shelf
and calmed
the little boy,
they walked away,
with the boy still
in tears.

I remember
hearing years ago
that stores
intentionally
stock children’s
cereals
on the bottom shelf.
It is easy for the child
to reach
and hand to mom
or dad
in the hope
they would get it
for them.

I went over
and looked
at the box
the mom placed
back on the shelf.
The kid had
good taste.
It was a cereal
I remember eating
as a child.

I grabbed the box
and threw it into
the cart.
It had been a while
since I had it
and I felt
like being
a kid again.

Good thing I didn’t need
mom’s permission.

-Kurt Rees

©Copyright 2007 by Kurt Rees.
All rights reserved.

Feel

You ask me if I still feel.
I do,
just not what you expect.
I feel nothing anymore,
with women,
with love,
with life.
I feel no feeling.
I could scream
and nobody would listen.
Not even me.
I could cut,
but I couldn’t cut deep enough
to feel
for you,
or for me.
I still believe in God,
but I feel He has better
things to take care of
than one of His own.
You ask me
if I feel for you.
I do,
but not enough
to care.
I have a hard time
caring for myself.
Ask me again
in a few days.
By then
my mind may change,
my heart may change,
but I’m sure
my feelings will change
in a few minutes.
I’m just feeling
not to feel
right now.

-Kurt Rees

©Copyright 2008 by Kurt Rees.
All rights reserved.

Selfish Savior

You look at the television
and possibly see
your new savior.
Your savior
could be standing in line
at the local grocery store.
He may be standing
on the other side
of the bar tonight.
You leave everything
to them,
so they
can take care of you.

We all look for a savior
that has physical features.
Eyes,
ears,
nose
and mouth,
but the truth may be
that your savior
has always been.

You just can’t give up
everything to your savior
and not worship him.

You would be giving up
too much control.

-Kurt Rees

©Copyright 2008 by Kurt Rees.
All rights reserved.