This is an entry in the Halloween story contest. Thanks to Mistresslynn for her editing and help throughout writing this story.
This story is the first two chapters of a very long tale that will encompass many different categories on lit. Not all chapters will contain sex.
CHAPTER 1: TIES THAT BIND
It happened in the night. At least it was nighttime in the small southern Ontario town where Brian Johnson lived. For others it happened in an instant, exposed to the stark light of day. Darkness hid how suddenly things changed. The story began the day before.
Brian's alarm clock issued a loud wailing sound, much like a siren's call. His wife by instinct alone reached over and turned it off before rolling over and returning to sleep. He tried to look through sleep-blurred eyes, but could not focus. The room seemed vaguely familiar with its freshly painted walls. They had chosen a deep eggplant shade in sharp contrast to the hospital white that had previously adorned them.
As his vision cleared, he could begin to see his wife's naked form lying beneath the warm covers of their bed. Her long brown tresses flowed over her shoulders like a waterfall. It was funny how even after ten years together looking at her semi-naked body could still make his body respond. The familiar feeling of blood rushing from his brain towards his cock made him very aware of her proximity.
He rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes as he slid over next to her. His boxers were the only encumbrance preventing his growing erection from pressing directly against her bare ass. Fingers encircled her waist and sought out her breasts. He could hear her ragged breathing as his body pressed against her. Nipples hardened as his hands gripped them.
"Good morning sexy," he whispered in her ear. A feeling of heat radiated over her neck causing goose bumps to break out all over her body. She could feel a tingling sensation all the way down to her toes, causing her to curl them involuntarily.
"Morning hon," she replied finally waking up just a bit. Karen couldn't help but stretch, warming up her napping muscles. The bit of movement only served to fuel his excitement.
She reached back and felt his erection through his boxers. It felt good in her hand and she knew he loved it. Turning, she leaned over and gave him a tender kiss on the mouth. He returned her kiss with tongue probing passion.
"You know I'm not into morning sex. Besides, you wouldn't want to be late for your first day back at work," she said grinning as she rolled onto her back to face him. Karen knew how much he dreaded returning to work after their weeks' holidays. He always had to work extra long hours before and after any time off to make up for his absence. Such was the case for small business owners, but she still wasn't very happy about the extra time away from her and the kids.
"Yeah, I'm real eager to get back to work," he remarked rolling his eyes. "I should get up and going anyway. You just stay in bed. Such a rough life you have."
"I know. That's why I'm so tired all the time," she responded as she playfully smacked him on the ass.
Brian walked out of the bedroom and past the kids' bedrooms, making sure to be quiet. He knew his wife would give him big trouble if he woke them up early. Into the kitchen he went, pouring himself a glass of grapefruit juice and a bowl of cereal. It was the same thing for breakfast every morning. Brian was a creature of habit. He liked to have everything organized, planned and hated surprises.
Usually he would watch TV before work. He realized it would be the same morning news as usual. Issues south of the border would dominate the discussion. Between the housing crisis, war in Iraq, mounting debt and currency issues he was more than a little concerned about where the economy was going. Not to mention the election that seemed to drag on forever. His business was purely Canadian, but what happened in America had a way of spilling over into Canada as well. This was one of his biggest concerns.
With that in mind, he walked over to the dining room window. They had only lived in their house for a little over a year but it already felt like it had been their home forever. The view from the dining room window offered a nice vista of the outdoor community pool next door. The sparkling blue water was a favorite attraction for him and the kids. Karen often referred to him as a big kid. Beyond the pool was the playground, walking trails through the forest and a small river with a waterfall from the local dam.
"This is why I put up with this everyday," he muttered to himself. The entire family loved the house and his large salary was the only way to keep it. Even though his days ranged from dull, to exceedingly unpleasant, he felt it was his responsibility. They had long since decided that Karen would stay home with the two young children until they were both in school full time. So until then it was on him to pay the bills.
Time was running short, so Brian needed to get moving. He finished his juice and cereal, shaved and dressed for work. To make his anxiety about returning to work even better today, he had his black dress shirt with the company logo on. It had been a gift from his father, his boss, at the company Christmas party the previous year. It really was a very nice shirt, but it just reinforced to Brian how stuck with the situation he was.
As he slipped on his work shoes, he looked around the house one final time. His short-term memory was terrible. He was always forgetting things. You know they say the memory is the first thing to go as you get older he thought to himself. The previous day was his thirtieth birthday and it still bummed him out a little.
On his way out of the house, he walked by stairs covered in pumpkins. Corn stalks hung from the posts that held up the porch roof. Karen loved to decorate for any occasion and fall was no exception. Inside it already resembled a Halloween haunted house and outside a typical autumn scene.
He thought again about growing older as he drove to work. It wasn't so much his advancing age as it was the realization of time slipping away. Every year time seemed to accelerate. Their were many goals that Brian still wanted to accomplish and with all his time and energy going to either work or his family, it didn't seem like he was making much progress.
That thought echoed in his mind as he pulled into the empty driveway. Brian was glad to be there early. It would be another half hour before the rest of his staff arrived. The early morning was often the most productive time for him, before the chaos of the regular shift.
Walking into the plant brought back all the familiar memories that he had allowed to fade into the background during his week away. His mind conjured up the sounds of saws, screw guns, dust collectors and edge-banders humming towards a common goal. Brian conducted his normal walk-through to check on the status of all his departments. They tended to slack off when he was gone, so he intended to see what the situation was before any of them arrived.
He found exactly what he had expected. All of the areas were at least a day behind schedule. Shaking his head, he went to his office to see what messages he had to deal with. His head started to throb as he took one look at his desk and couldn't control his anger any longer.
"For fuck sakes! I go away for a week and my desk is a complete disaster."
His keyboard was barely detectable from underneath the gigantic stack of packing slips, invoices and messages. Binders of every color under the rainbow covered his desk. Not only was he swamped with work, but it was going to take an hour or two just to figure out where to start cleaning up this mess. The day was already taking a toll on his fragile psyche and it was still early.
To make matters worse the light flashed on his phone showing he had a message. He picked it up, cradled it to his ear and waited to see who wasn't coming in today. That was normally the case when there was a message on the phone this early in the morning. "Hi Brian its Roger. My grandma passed away on the weekend and I'm not going to be in for a few days. I'll call you on Wednesday after the funeral to let you know. Talk to you later, bye."
His mind began mentally rearranging the production schedule he kept in his brain at all times. It amazed him sometimes how he could compartmentalize and track those items so often and yet forget the smallest things. Karen always teased him about telling him to bring something home and ten minutes later, he would leave and completely forget about it. He would tell himself he had a great memory; it was just very short.
"Well there goes my saw operator," he exclaimed shaking his head.
The sound of workers coming in interrupted his train of thought. He slowly worked through clearing off his desk while he listened intently as all the rest of the staff filed in. Machines started up and noise filled the office before he got up and closed the door.
Moments later he heard the door open again. "So how was your holiday?" Gary said, as he entered the room.
"Oh hi Dad, it was fine. Nothing exciting," stated Brian, still miffed. "I see things went great while I was gone," sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, assembly is a day behind. I'm not sure what happened in finishing while I was gone plus we're an entire cut behind and now my saw operator is gone for the next three days!"
"Roger's not coming in?"
"Apparently his Grandma died and he's not coming in till Thursday. I have no idea how I'm supposed to get back on schedule."
