A. L. Kaplan

Category: Short Story

  • Nowhere

    Jackie squinted at the distant red cliffs through dry sun-strained eyes trying not to think about the blisters that already covered her skin. There was no place to hide from the blazing heat and no signs of life. The animals knew better. Jackie wished she could find a rock to burrow under, but that wasn’t her mission.

    If only she could remember what that mission was. She’d been trudging for hours and could barely think with her pounding head. Every beat echoed in her ears like a drum. Clouds of dust swirled around her and Jackie sank to her knees, choking on dust. Unbearable heat, no shade, no water, and now a sandstorm?

    “Stop it!” she said, barely getting a sound past her parched lips.

    Abruptly the wind and stinging cloud of sand stopped. Jackie blinked in surprise.

    “I’m looking for water!” she said, finally remembering her task.

    A trickle of water bubbled up from the ground at her feet and Jackie eagerly reached for a handful…and got hit by a torrent that knocked her down in a rapidly growing pool.

    “Crap. None of this is real,” she said, and opened her eyes. Jackie scowled at the man sitting next to her.

    “Even a dream can be deadly,” he said. “Check out the news.”

    Jackie looked at the newscaster who stood next to a small lake.

    “We bring you a special report from southern Nevada. A previously unknown natural spring just surfaced, flooding out a section of route 50…”

  • The Last Season

    “You sure about this, Grandpa Jessie? This place has been in the family for nearly one hundred years.”

    “You’re more important than wood, stone, and animal trophies,” said Jessie. “Great-Grand Papi and Great-Gram Ruby would understand. Sometimes you just have to say goodbye, and now is a good time. I have enough memories of this place to last a lifetime.  Besides, the money from the sale will support both of us for years.”

    “Grandpa…”

    “You’re more like your grandma than you realize, Jackie.”

    Jessie smiled and squeezed her hand, the one with the new guardian ring. He had almost stopped hoping one of his offspring would be chosen. Last month Jackie showed up unexpectedly and he knew.  In fact, he knew more about what to expect than Jackie did. Jessie never told his family about his wife’s secret life as a Dream Guardian. They never understood how she could lie down for a nap and wake hours later more fatigued than before. The truth was she traveled in a mystical dream world, projecting herself all over the planet.

    Now Jackie was part of that world and her safety and welfare was more important than the family lodge. She was more than his last living relative, she was hope where there was none, kindness in an unkind world, and courage where most would run in terror. Jackie was a Dream Guardian, protector of the weak and unsuspecting.

    And she didn’t even realize it yet.

  • Dead Stop

    “Damn, Bill,” said the engineer, as he stared at the man lying face up across the tracts only inches from the grill of the train. “Half a second slower on those brakes and this guy would have been flattened.”

    The brakeman studied the dusty landscape near the train, trying not to look at the body. “I’m just glad you spotted him in time. How the heck did he get here? There aren’t any tire tracks or footprints.”

    “No idea. There isn’t a mark on him, like he’s asleep only pale. I swear, he looks just like that guy you were flirting with at Starbucks this morning, but that was four-hundred miles back.”

    “Kurt.” Bill said, finally looking at the body. “It is him, Carlos. There can’t be two men with the same hansom face and green ring. But what happened?”

    When Carlos didn’t answer, Bill glanced up and saw him staring slack- jawed. The engineer could only point down the tracks. Chills ran down Bill’s back when he saw the destroyed bridge less than an eighth of a mile away, down a slight incline. They would never have seen it in time to stop the train. A thousand passengers saved. The two men stared at the broken bridge, then at the track in front of the train. Kurt’s body was gone. Bill swallowed past a hard dry lump.

    “Bill,” said the engineer, after a full two minutes of silence. “I won’t say anything about the body if you don’t.”

  • The Dream

    Wispy apparitions darted behind the columns lining the hallway as Jackie walked, making her shiver. How many times had she walked this path, only to run screaming in terror to the end, blocked by an impenetrable door? How many times had she awakened, drenched in sweat?

    “It’s only a dream,” she whispered, breathing out slowly, determined to stay calm. “They can’t hurt me.”

    Each step sent her deeper into the swirling shadows and she felt her legs tremble as the mists danced around her. Only feet from the door an angry shriek rent the air and Jackie knew if she turned she’d see the ghostly face that made it.

    Jackie squeezed her eyes tight, willing her heart to stop racing. “It’s not real.”

    When she opened them again the door stood open. Pure light streamed around her, dispelling any sign of shadows. Jackie gazed at the splendor that soothed her soul.

    “You’ve made it at last,” said a woman in flowing white robes. “I’ve been expecting you.”

    “Who are you?”

    “Names are unimportant,” she said, handing Jackie a ring with a bright green stone. “Take this to help you recognize the others.”

    “What others? I don’t understand.”

    “You will.”

     

    Jackie blinked at the computer screen, momentarily disoriented. Code was flying across it, code she didn’t remember accessing. Had she fallen asleep at her desk? A cold shiver ran down her spine as she glanced at the keyboard. On her finger rested a slender gold ring with a green gem.

  • Fire on the Mountain

    I look back and smile as smoke billows up from the distant hillside. A fire in the forest should be frightening, but this one sends a thrill of joy through me. I’m finally free of those bastards. They never even noticed me slip out, drunk as they were. There was only one thing they thought I was good for.

    They promised a job with steady pay, all meals included.  Times are tough. You take work when you can, even when it drags you to the middle of nowhere. The pay never materialized, neither did the food, unless you count stale bread and broth. We were only cheap labor for their little endeavor…and entertainment.

    Life on the streets taught me patience always pays off. I played along, even pretended to enjoy it, all the while sneaking supplies and scattering explosives around the camp. The others who came with me didn’t fare so well. Eugene died in a rock slide, Jimmy from too many fists. Carlene, well, she tried to say no. The list goes on.

    I didn’t ask the right questions when they hired me, but neither did they. Discounting me and not asking about what I knew was a mistake they’ll never repeat. Now my bags are filled with their treasures. Dad taught me well before he died. I’d be fine out here. Rubble and ash are all anyone will find of those men. Don’t ever mess with a rebel’s daughter. She’ll put you in your place.

  • BOBBY

    Hey Loony.

    Stop it, Bobby. You’re such a pain in the butt.

         I choke on sobs as I run my fingers over the photograph in Mom’s old album.  My brother and I were arguing as we hiked that day, barely even noticing the views that mom captured with her camera. We were twins, fighting was what we did. This image is burned into my mind.  I can’t believe mom saved it all these years. I wish I could forget that day, or better yet redo it. Even after twenty years, the pain is still fresh.

         Make me, Loony. Loony Louise.

         I said stop calling me that.

         A little shove was all I gave, just to make him stop teasing.  Bobby fell back into the railing, laughing the way ten year old boys laugh. I remember his eyes widen with surprise and then terror as he teetered farther back over the rail.

         Bobby!

         I reached, but his fingers barely brushed across mine, like two feathers in the wind. Then he was gone, tumbling down into the water and rocks. He didn’t even cry out as he fell. There was a pause, then a splash and a crack. I stood there numb, watching a red streak taint the water below and my brother float slowly down stream. Mom screamed, but it sounded far away. All I could do was gape.

    Tears splash onto the plastic of the album. If only I hadn’t pushed so hard. If only…

         I’m sorry Bobby.

  • Salt and Sails

    Cool spray caresses my face and the salt tastes sweet on my lips. The scent of sea air permeates my being. This is my first and only love. I close my eyes and feel the brig as it cuts through the calm waters of the bay. The rise and fall of the waves still send shivers of joy down my spine. Here is where I belong, not bound to the hard unmoving land.

    I clutch the two gold bands that hang from my neck. My parents told me I was born in the churning waves of a storm, among the sugar cane and indigo of the hold. They were only passengers on that voyage, and fled the rocking of the ship as soon as they made landfall. But my destiny was established.

    Forty years have passed since I ran to my lover disguised as a boy, only days after my parents died. I was twelve, and have never left the embrace of the ocean. Now, as Captain, I sail the same route that bore me, delivering new shipments from the islands to these costal ports.

    The days of the brig are almost gone, overtaken by newer ships with smaller crews. But this is my life, my ship. There are no regrets. My heart races through the water like a dolphin and I long for the challenge of sailing into those crimson seas at dawn. Perhaps I’ll leave this world the way I entered, on the roiling waves of the sea.

  • The Rendezvous

    There was no moon tonight, which suited Kara just fine. She preferred to stay in the shadows. Out in the woods she felt safe, but this close to people made her nervous. Kara had promised Ethan she would wait here under the streetlamp while he gathered supplies, but she longed for the comfortable feel of her pack mates. Only her overriding need to be with Ethan kept her here.

    Until she had found him, bleeding and near death, Kara hadn’t realized she needed human companionship. Maybe it was the eyes, or the soft way he spoke to her as she nursed him back to health, but something awoke in her. Perhaps it was the way he accepted the wolves that had been her only companions these last eight years. Could he hear them the way she could?

    Footsteps approached and Kara ducked into the shadows, as skittish as a young wolf, ready to bolt. Relief flooded her as she recognized Ethan, and her heart began to flutter with something more.

    “Ethan.” she said, a wolfish whimper slipping into her voice.

    “I’m here, Kara,” he said, “now and forever.”

    She stepped back into the lamp light and looked up into his brown eyes, longing for his touch.  Shivers ran up her spine as he brushed a hand across her cheek. Kara nuzzled into Ethan’s chest and felt his love telegraphed through his beating heart.

    He was hers, and she his…for life.

    It’s the way of the pack.

  • Love and Devotion

    Smooth gray stones burn the pads of my feet and the sun sears from above. My tongue hangs loosely from my mouth as I pant, but it’s dry and cracked, granting me no relief. I long for some shade or damp sand to cool my burning paws, but there is only the dry creek bed and blinding light.

    Days ago a stranger took me from my home and left me at the odd den with noisy animals. They took me away from the girl, my girl with the long curls and misshapen paws that feel so soothing as they stroke. The angry man hurt her, hurt our pack, but he’s felt my fangs and can’t harm anyone again. She lay so still when the strangers came and hid her under a sheet. I must find her, keep her safe from others. It’s what keeps me moving past the hunger and thirst.

    I close my eyes and picture her smiling face and warm hugs. I remember also my nighttime escape over the chain link fence to find her.

    A sudden coolness brushes me. Opening my eyes I see a trickle of water running under my toes and through the stones. The feeling sends shivers all the way to the tip of my tail. I don’t notice the roar until it crashes into me. As I am tossed in the water I know I will never see my girl again.

    Yet I feel her arms embrace me as darkness encompasses.

  • Bluefish

    It’s cold and damp on the sidewalk outside of Pesca’s Restaurant. The neon fish stares at me from the window, twisting its body as if it knows what I did. I rub my sleep deprived eyes and the fish lies still again, once more just a window decoration. Looking through the glass I see a woman bring a fork to her mouth, heedless of the sharp barb I see buried in the meat. My conscience forces me to react, but banging and yelling brings only the maître d’s wrath and he shoos me away.

    Faces glare at me from within as I back into the street, but I pay them no mind. Only the display matters now. The glass fish springs from the window like the real ones I saw leaping out of the water on my fishing trip. It charges me and a scream chokes in my throat. My feet are rooted to the asphalt. Dagger like teeth cut into my flesh, sending waves of pain through my body. Light flashes and my mind drifts away.

    Waves swell around me as I strain against the hook caught in my lips. Despite my efforts, the boat only looms nearer. A sharp hook pierces my side and I am slammed onto the deck. All around me is the nauseating scent of blood in the salt air. The hook is ripped from my mouth with pliers and I writhe in pain.

    I see myself watching as I am tossed into a bucket of dirty water filled with lifeless friends. I twist in a vain effort to escape, praying that I will rescue myself. But I only watch in fascination as I suffocate in the filthy muck.

    Lights flash all around me and the hard street is my only pillow. People watch, enthralled by the spectacle. As they lift me onto the gurney I see the neon fish smiling. It’s had its revenge at last.