Tee brought the hammer down on VP’s shoulder and he collapsed with his hands on his head. She showed no mercy, dropping the second hit. His shoulder moved disturbingly out of place.  “Where is my mother?” Tee demanded an answer. VP wailed on the floor, grasping his shoulder. Tears flooded his eyes and snot spilled in his lips but he did not answer. And so, with little remorse, Tee hit him again. This time it was his knee that cracked. He flopped on the floor, screaming out.

The hoard surrounded my vehicle in just moments, trapping my wheels still in the parking lot. I would have run them down had I no humanity. After another moment, my van was shaking, playing the same lullaby on loop. I used to be able to change the music but after a few years of wear, the button became stuck and now the damned thing wouldn’t turn off. I kept my window shut, looking into my freezer to see what I had in stock. I hadn’t expected this playground to be so full of t

The mourning traveler was a troubled and ruddy man, and his cart was heavier than an ox. Calloused hands held the wooden tongue up on his left sunburned shoulder. Between him and the midden were two too-heavy boots which sank him each step. His cart at least hadn’t made it into the pile of matter, and he was lucky so. He groaned with tire as he switched shoulders and began turning the cart back to the dirt road he’d veered from. The sun threatened the man, dipping below the h