*Authors Note: This story is intended to be read as a series of handwritten journal entries. If you are upset by entries that are only a page long, this story probably isn't for you. But if you can deal with shorter entries, please enjoy.*
Mortem in Nocte
October 11
It is my hope that someone finds this journal someday, if only so that someone knows what really happened here. I know that I am going to die here and I am certain that I don't have much longer before Death calls me home. This is a call I will not welcome, but I will answer it nonetheless.
First things first, I need you to know that I am who I say I am. My name is Darwyn. You can check my ID, which is in the center console of the jeep parked outside. But I must warn you you will not recognize that picture. My body has . . . changed over the course of the last month. Anyways, my license number is 086753090. And if you know the right question to ask, the answer is 42. Ask anyone who knows me personally and they will confirm this for you.
Now that that is out of the way, I need you to know that I am not crazy. Everything in this journal is real. I have made none of this up.
As I write this, it is October 11 and it is my birthday. The last I will have. But this story didn't start today....it was about a month ago.....September 13. I've torn this page out and placed it in the front so someone would know where to read.
If you're brave enough, begin reading on September 14. All I ask is that you share my story.
~Darwyn
September 14
The drive up was pleasant. It is always good to get away every now and then. I do what I can to keep my life simple and calm, but it seems like I just have a magnet for chaos permanently strapped to my back. But that's what they invented vacations for, right?
I can't believe its been two years since I've been up here! They say time flies when you're having fun, but that's a lie. Well not a real lie, just not all of it. Its when you're busy that time really moves. It seems to leave you behind if you aren't careful. It's when you're busy working that your children grow up. Its when you're buddies all get married and move away to start families of their own. It's when, if you aren't paying attention, you wake up one day and find out that you're old. Its when you're busy that time really passes you by. I swear if it weren't for this trip every few years, I would already be an old man.
Last night as I turned down the narrow road that leads up here, a wave of nostalgia swept over me. As I navigated the way in the fading light, I re-lived countless times from when I was young and my brothers and I would come up here with my father. It seems that we came up here every couple of weeks instead of every couple of years like I do now. A weekend up here meant more to me than everything. The time here with my father was priceless. This was genuine life experience.
I could tell that my brothers hadn't been up here since I was here last. I'm not surprised. They have all moved to various parts of the country. I kinda like it like this though. Even though the place belongs to all four of us, the fact that they aren't around makes if feel like its mine.
I wonder what they would say if I moved up here permanently. If they would have any objections. It would be nice to live up here.
I think this is enough of a trip down memory lane for now. Something pretty amazing happened last night.
I've talked about this before, but I think it bears mentioning again because it, well it's related. I don't dream. I mean, I'm sure I do; I would've gone insane long ago if I didn't. But I haven't had a dream I can remember since I was like five or six. I've heard people talk about how they know they've had a dream but just can't remember what it was about. I don't even get that. When I sleep it is like I have blinked. I close my eyes and then open them; and several hours will have passed. Sometimes I feel rested and sometimes I do not. But last night, I had a dream.
I have to say that if all dreams are like what I experienced last night, then I welcome any more dreams to visit me any time! Everything felt so real. I could feel everything as completely as I do now. I could sense the temperature in the room, the textures of the fabric in the quilt, even the sensation of the air from the ceiling fan.
Just in case I don't have another dream any time in the near future, I want to write it all down.
As real as it was, there are two things that stand out as proof that it was a dream. First of all, it was a wet dream. I haven't been in a relationship for almost three years and haven't had sex in about eight months. If you count the last time I paid someone for sex.....then it's still eight months. So it only makes sense that any dream I might have would be erotic in nature.
And then there was her. She had long, vibrant red hair that seemed to float in the air around her as if she were under water. Her sheer nightgown rose about her in much the same fashion as her hair. Every thing about her screamed "woman." What little ethereal clothing she had left nothing to the imagination. Long legs, wide hips, a narrow waist, medium sized breasts.....