After clocking a new personal best time on the outdoor FBI training course, Nora Phoenix walked nude across the stony locker room, toward the communal showers. She cranked a faucet handle and stood aside the cascading water, waiting for it to warm. She could feel eyes, like overly soft water, leaving a film on her skin. Two men were showering directly across from Nora. The first agent, soaping his balls, turned to the sec...

My wife was going to a conference in Denver for six days, so she paid the girl next door to watch our two kids during the day, while I was at work. This was back in the ’90s, when jeans rode low on girls’ hips and held tight against their asses. I taught English composition at a state university in the southwest. The square-yardage of midriff I observed on a daily basis was almost too much. As I walked across campus to my...

Mid-Summer, 1995: This was not the typical hot summer night in Ohio. This time, there was an abnormally high temperature with much more oppressive humidity than usual. Additionally, these temperatures were not common this late. It was midnight and it was sultry. I decided to come back east and visit the people who were important to me. This was my last night in town and I was not going to leave without seeing my closest f...

The next day: Long before my alarm disrupted all peace, I was awake. I was in bed, flat on my back, alone in my hotel suite. I turned on the light on the nightstand as it was still dark outside. I found myself looking at the ceiling with that thousand-yard stare, the one you only read about. As I pondered the previous night’s sordid events, I asked myself, "Did this really happen?” I continued to process. This only result...

My name is Andrew and this is the night that changed my life forever. This single event directly involved my best friend, Jennifer, whom I have been the closest of friends for the last thirty-plus years. I met her many years ago while in college. Between classes, several of us would meet in a common area. One random winter day, I decided to excuse myself from our group of misfits, step out, and get something to eat. Stran...

It was mid-October in 2009, and I was well established in my career. I was alone in the central part of the country, attending a five-week pilot training program for another aircraft. I was saturated, tired, and stressed beyond belief. There was no time for fun, games, or entertainment. I was alone, there was no visiting with friends or acquaintances. It was classroom and/or simulator training all day followed by approxim...

This was the beginning. It was late at night in the heat of summer. We were in the early stages of becoming close friends. After a night out, Jennifer, Lydia, and I were driving around spending time with each other in a questionable part of town. Jennifer was in the front seat next to me while Lydia was sitting in the back. We were having a good time laughing incessantly and joking around using raw sexual humor. We were c...

A few years had passed since I left my home and set out to seek my fortune. It was late October. I was sitting in my seat next to the window with a row to myself. As a pilot myself, I was flying all day and I was fatigued and exhausted. This time I took comfort in being a passenger for a change. After takeoff, I closed my eyes and began to twilight into the dream state. I was heading back home where I grew up and began to...

It was a Friday evening during the dead of winter. Five of the six of us friends were enjoying each other’s company at Lydia's house. The house actually belonged to her mother, Abigail, also known as Big Abby. Big Abby was out as usual with her boyfriend, Gene, which was preferable to me because I never liked either of the two of them. The truth is that Big Abby was an overbearing know-it-all opinionated walking attitude...

It was a typical fall evening. I was out enjoying a modest evening with friends. There were five of us. We were the closest of friends. We were not the typical college students one may be accustomed to. We were a group of misfits that were trying to find our places and fit into society. Or at least, our purposes in life. We would spend hours contemplating what was going to become of us. We would devise plans that were alm...