Thinking Outside the Box

Director Silver lowered himself down into the creaky, worn chair and tried to rub feeling back into his numb left hand. It never helped. He used to be a much fitter man, but the omnipresent, squeezing ache in his chest reminded him that the years were catching up to him. Years in the field, followed by more years behind this damned desk, while good men and women were out doing the job he yearned to do. But the reality, reality of horrifying beasts, daemons and fool cultists was too great for him to be running around out there. He was needed here. Random images, sounds and even smells from the past still threatened to overwhelm him from time to time, when the nightmares and memories came to mind more clearly. He knew he was lucky, unlike most, he had survived beyond the extremely short life expectancy of an active field agent. Silver raised his head from his hands, not realizing he had even moved, and noted a small sheet of paper in the middle of his cluttered-but-neat desk. Folded ...

Outside, the two searching figures slowly return to the main building. As they approach the light from their flashlights reflects off of the building and their shapes resolve. They're wearing simple, nondescript military style uniforms and armed with automatic weapons. One of them snarls at the other, "There's nothing out here except coyotes, dirt and wind. Besides, if I were in charge I'd have come out here and checked it out myself!" "Yeah right! If you were in charge we'd all be dead already Carlson. That door was rusted shut, I'd bet money on it. Ain't no coyote cracking it open like that," says the second guard. They pause outside the door and turn off the flashlights and he digs a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket. Lighting up a cigarette he offers the pack to his companion. "So if it ain't a coyote what the hell was it? Nothing around here for miles!" "I don't know Staves, but I'm not taking that...

I creep through the darkness, feeling my way along the wall of the building until I reach the corner. A sliver of a moon shines wanly above in an otherwise empty sky. The light it gives is just enough to make out the shapes of other buildings against the horizon. Thick black against an even thicker black. I'm walking almost blind here. It's going to be hell trying to move around in near pitch. I can't figure out how to light my way without giving up my location so I squint hard into the inky night and will my eyes to adjust. Thinking back to when I awoke in the grass, I vaguely recall the layout of the complex. There was a small shed on this end of the building and I think it's almost directly ahead of me. With no other viable options I might as well go for it. Pushing myself away from the cooling wall of the building I start to cross the void, moving in the remembered direction of the shed. After what seems like forever my outstretched hands...

I thought I'd do something completely different and post up a little piece of ongoing fiction I recently started working on. The concept was conceived simply as a creative writing exercise. I don't know much more about the world itself, the characters in it or what's happening any more than you do. The few restrictions I've placed on the work are simple: 1. It takes place on Earth, set in the modern day. 2. Anything can happen. I started with the simple premise of a man who wakes up alone somewhere. Everything after that just sort of...well we'll see. Want to come along for the ride? Part 1 Dazzling sunshine strikes my face as I open my eyes. I'm lying on my back, staring up at a clear blue sky. Tall, golden grass waves in a gentle breeze all around me. I sit up and look around. I have no obvious injuries that I can see or feel, no blood or anything around me to indicate why I was unconscious at all. Come to think of it, I have no idea how I got......