From the dark, demands a voice of malice.    A monster has caught him; a memory of terror, a nightmare to be – and here he is, without a blanket to hide under or Mommy to call.  The voice demands again and the gun moves closer.  His humiliation grows in a warm, dark path running down his left leg.  The monster smells his fear – and likes it.  With hands not his own, he takes from himself; a wallet, a watch, a phone and a sure night’s sleep for years to come – and he sheds them to the voice;…

“There’s a man on the horizon,” I say, my voice jutting over the blare of alt-rock and hip-hop as Jake, Rog and I head west one last time before graduation sets us on the rest of our lives.  “Hehe – I told you he was holdin’ out on us,” Jake snorts, twisting around to spy me…

She was older than me; a fine wine of a woman, with a body I liked to sip from.  She was Sigourney, she was Blythe – charming in her ways of sophistication and sass; a sweet marriage of Couture and kick ass, packaged well and made-to-order.  By that, I mean she was unique.  Being with her was like witnessing art for the first time – forever affected and never undone.…

I listen to my neighbors have sex.  At night, I fight sleep, hoping for a dose of their auditory show; like an addict, craning my neck at every creak and moan from the apartment above.  But when I'm lucky...oh boy... when the rhythmic crunch of bedsprings, like the inner monologue of a mouthful of Doritos permeates my bedroom, I go perfectly still, stiff one might say, and indulge like the sinister pervert I am. I listen harder when she begins to moan, those loud pantomimes of a porn star's…