“All the power in the world, to come and go as I please, only to die right here on this frozen yard–while pissing myself!”

CHAPTER ONE

“Tommy Appears and Daria Jumps”

 The man feared he would bleed to death on the snow-covered lawn.

Please God, let them see me, he mouthed. I must walk. I can’t stop. Or this is the end of the line.

He swayed as he staggered out of the blue fog that had enveloped his body. He was about to fall forward when his hands found the stone mailbox pillar and held on. He pressed them against it, as if to draw strength from the cold monolith. A warmth spread across his groin and down his leg.

All the power in the world, to come and go as I please, only to die right here on this frozen yard–while pissing myself!

The long gash just above his left ear bled and bled, warming his neck and shoulder, caking on top of older spillage. Someone had found the strength and the desire to kill him and had hit him, hard. He didn’t remember who, or why.

An unbearably loud noise hurt his ears—a dog, inside the Tudor-style house, barking furiously. A cat came out of the shadows, saw him and let out a shriek, running back into the darkness.

He forced his body to respond as he pushed away from the mailbox and began walking on the expanse of frozen grass. The frigid air gnawed at his bare hands, but he felt no pain as he struggled to put one foot in front of the other.

I must get to that front porch. Nothing else matters.

Finally—was it a minute? an hour? —the steps of the porch were rushing toward him.

He fell toward them with nothing to hang on to and his face hit the hard ground…