The Half That You See by Rebecca Rowland (best summer reads .TXT) 📕

“Why are you here, Jeffrey? Did you come to nag me about how you killed your little boy?”

Jeff froze. His face went pale.

“Or, maybe you wanted to tell me about how your wife couldn’t stand looking at you anymore?”

“I…”

“Or wait, maybe you wanted to tell me more about how you can't even hold down a job so pathetic a trained monkey could do it?”

He shook his head. Something was wrong, not just with this place, but with her, too. “What happened to your house?”

“What happened to your life?” she asked accusingly. “Seems to me that those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, Jeffrey.”

Maybe if I fix up the place everything will go back to normal. That must be it, he thought. If I fix the house, it will all go back to the way it was the first time. He left the kitchen and walked into the den. The books that had once been carefully arranged on the shelves were spread all over the floor, with pages torn and strewn about. He gathered the pages and placed them back inside their books, dusting the shelves with his shirt sleeve before replacing them. He retrieved Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland from the fireplace and tucked it back onto the shelf.

After sorting the bookshelf, he started cleaning the fireplace. He took a small broom and dustpan and swept out the ashes. The back of his throat felt raw and scratchy from breathing the dust and ash.

Her voice taunted him from behind. “It’s just like your life, boy. You can’t fix that, and you can’t fix this, either.”

He didn’t respond. He went out to the porch and found some logs for a fire. He took a match and some crumpled newspaper and coaxed a small flame to life. His eyes stung, and he coughed from the smoke.

“You’ll just make a mess of things. That’s all you know how to do anyway, isn’t it?”

“No!” he shouted. “No. I can fix this. It can be the way it was before. You’re tired. You can’t keep this place up by yourself. I’ll help you. Here, sit by the fire.”

She smirked and shuffled to the recliner, her body hunched and arthritic.

Jeff went into the kitchen and found a feather duster. He set to work on the mantle, then the empty wall where the antlers had been. He paused in front of the bird clock. The birds had faded, all except for one—the raven that marked midnight. Funny, he had never noticed a raven before.

He reentered the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. The smell of rancid meat and spoiled milk made his stomach churn. He skimmed the shelves and opened drawers, but found nothing edible. The milk was cottage-cheese chunks, and the deli meat squirmed with maggots.

He covered his mouth, holding back vomit, as he pulled the garbage can over. One by one, he emptied the contents of the fridge into the trash.

Maybe I can still make tea. He realized he’d never seen where things were kept, so he opened the cabinets haphazardly. The finish was chipping off the doors. Was it like this before? Did I just not notice?

He opened one door to find mice scurrying over broken bits of china. The tea cups were mostly shards and dust; the ones that remained were chipped or cracked down the sides. Mice droppings mixed among the shards. The pungent smell of ammonia emanated from inside.

He placed the two most intact mugs in the sink. He grabbed the sugar bowl and lifted the lid. The sugar writhed with life. He shook the contents, which sent cockroaches scurrying frantically up his arm. He shrieked and the bowl fell, shattering on the counter.

He leaned over to collect himself. A cockroach skittered over the toe of his shoe. He tried lifting his foot, but his sole stuck to the floor.

Everything was in ruins. Cackling laughter mocked him from the den. He tore his shoe free and left the room, garbage bag still in hand.

“What’s so funny? What happened here?”

“You’re like a rat in a cage, running around your little wheel.”

“You’ve changed.”

“You’ve changed,” she mimicked, sneering. “Of course I’ve changed. You dump all your problems here. What did you expect? That I could just clean all that up? This place is ruined because you ruined it.” She pointed a finger at him accusingly. “You came in with your self-pity and failures, and you infected this place. This is your fault. Just like Zack was your fault. Just like Susan was your fault.”

He felt stricken. “You were never cruel before. I wanted to help fix this place, but…I don’t think I’ll come back again.”

She smiled, her brown teeth hanging from her mouth like rotten fangs. “You won't come back? Ha. You can't even leave.” She slapped her knee and doubled over in a fit of laughter.

Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the room. With the darkness banished for a split second, he could see her face clearly. She no longer resembled a woman at all. She looked like him, but twisted and melted with decay.

Jeff screamed and fled, flinging the door open. Zack stood in the open doorway, covered in blood, pointing at him, blocking his path.

He slammed the door shut and leaned against it, sobbing with each breath.

“I told you that you couldn’t leave.” More laughter.

He doubled over and vomited on the floor. “What did you do? This isn’t right! This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.”

In a rage, he grabbed the books from the shelf and flung them into the fireplace. He pulled furniture, rugs, garbage—anything he could get his hands on—into the fireplace. The whole room erupted into flames.

The clock cawed. It was raven o’clock.

Fire Rampages Hillside Apartments

By: Chronicle Staff

Firefighters responded to an emergency call at 1:00 am yesterday morning at the Hillside apartment complex. The fire blazed for hours before the local fire department was able to extinguish it. Official reports state that the source of the fire was a two bedroom apartment belonging