LAST CIRCUS

John was on his way to his most favorite thing in the world. He was on his way to the circus side show. Some people might ask how a circus side show could be a full grown mans favorite place to visit. What most people didn’t know was that this side show was no ordinary side show, and for some reason you knew it wasn’t ordinary then chances are you wouldn’t be around to talk about it. Even john had no clue as to why he was still around. He guessed it was because he could keep his mouth shut and the people at the show knew it.
Today was like any other day. John was excited as he walked around the back of the circus tent. There was a long line up of people waiting to see the side show as there usually was. John knew that once inside there was two ways to go. Most would go to the right but for those very few that took the other route; this would be the last time they would ever wait in any lineup again anytime anywhere.
Once inside John knew which way he wanted to go. He took a left through door marked maintenance and almost immediately found himself sliding down a very long dark tunnel. He knew he was getting close to the bottom because the screams were getting louder. Now these were the sounds he looked forward to all year long. Finally he hit bottom and the zombies started coming at him until they realized who it was that just came through the chute. Almost immediately they turned back forgetting he was even there. Then they continued on with the events happening right in front of john.
Gathered around a circle shaped cage were about 30 zombies. The undead that kept this freaky side show running. Hollywood was right on with their renditions of what zombies should look like. In the middle of the cage there was3 adults screaming. They had body parts missing; they were bleeding profusely, while begging for their lives. The zombies were taking turns entering the cage to get pieces of these humans. They would then leave to eat while the next one entered. This vicious cycle would carry on until there was no food left. Then they would have to wait for the next person to come sliding down the chute.
John had been coming down here for over ten years now. He didn’t know what kept him coming but for him it was some kind of crazy turn on.
A few seconds later another unsuspecting victim came sliding down the chute. Almost immediately everything changed for john. He had never felt the experience he was feeling right now. For the first time in ten years he didn’t want this girl to be eaten. He had seen many pretty ladies come down this chute but none that have ever given him the feelings that he was experiencing right now. The girl looked directly into his eyes as she was being pulled away to be thrown in the cage.
John knew there was nothing he could do. The entire time this girl was being ripped apart she never said a word. She never whimpered in pain but instead just stared at John until there was no longer any life left in her body. This did something to him. Something that made him rethink his last ten years.
He knew there was nothing he could do at the moment, however at that moment he decided that once he got out of there he would finally some way put a stop to this insanity. Immediately he knew he was in trouble. What he hadn’t known all these years was that these zombies could read his mind. They all started coming towards him. John tried getting away but only through his instincts to live. He knew it was a waste of time. He quickly realized that not now or ever would he see the light of day again.
The pain was excruciating as the zombies started taking turns at ripping his body parts off of him. He had absolutely no idea why but his very final thought as a living human being was at how this year’s circus side show was a let down.

Dale Mazurek

JAKES MAFIA

This was the fifth year in a row now and business was better then ever. Jake started his black market business at camp five years ago. When he started it involved mostly chocolate bars and other candy products but over the five years the business has grown tremendously. Jake now stocks anything from the original candy bars to now being able to get cam corders, computers and even items as big as 52 inch televisions. Jake had a partner at camp. His name is Brian. He also had several partners outside of camp. He never knew their names and never wanted to. Two months at camp, Jake and Brian could make enough cash to get through the entire year until next years camp. That how ever didn’t stop them from working their business in the off season it’s just that this was their primary selling season. What Jake and Brian didn’t know was that things were going to go bad this year. There were going to very bad.
The boys were well in to their first out of nine selling weeks. Sales were great. Hell it even looked like it would be a record year. What you have to remember was that Jake was selling to some of these kids for five years now. The kids came to camp prepared to spend money. Hell even some parents gave their kids money to get them items. Of course they would never admit it but Jake knew what was happening. And honestly he didn’t care where the items were going as long as the cash was going in his pocket.
On the seventh day Jake noticed a dramatic down fall in sales. He decided to not sweat it and see what happened the next day. Well the next day was worse so he knew that he had to investigate to see what was going on. So now he and Brian were on a mission. It took no time at all to find the problem. Another camper had moved in on their territory. Jake was furious. The guy selling was a friend of Jakes. Well an ex friend now. When Jake went to approach him two of the other campers stepped in front of him. Gary the new kid on the block wouldn’t even acknowledge that Brian and Jake were there. He just kept on selling as if nothing was going on. At that moment Jake decided that walking away would be the best thing for now but he also knew that in no way was he done.
That night Jake lay in bed wondering how he was going to deal with the situation at hand. He figured if he could get to talk to Gary one on one that he could make things right. Jake was a little worried because all his product was bought on credit and the guys he bought it from weren’t very nice guys. They trusted Jake because he always made good but he knew they wouldn’t hesitate to deal with a situation that may go bad. Sleep was very limited that night. However when Jake woke up in the morning he felt like it would be a good day. Little did he know that today would be the day that the snowball started rolling down the hill.
Jake got up and had a shower before he made his way over to where Gary was working. He decided to get it over and done with instead of procrastinating. Once he got to Garys venue once again the same two guys stepped out in front of him. Jake was very nice about the situation. Inside he was boiling over but he knew that at this point anger wasn’t the solution. Jake asked that he be allowed to talk to Gary for a few minutes. One of the big dudes went over and said something before coming back and letting Jake through. Jake was excited. He was sure he was about to get this thing resolved.
It didn’t take long for Jake to realize that this conversation was going to get nothing resolved. Jake was nice about things at first. He reminded Gary that this had been his gig for five years. He reminded him that friends don’t screw other friends over. Jake even offered Gary a share of the business next year but this year he had obligations to fulfill and with the new business this was going to be very tough to do. There was no hesitation, no sympathy, absolutely no caring from Gary. He reminded Jake that it was a free world. He told Jake that he didn’t care about his problems and there was no way he was going to quit what was now filling his pockets with more cash then he had ever known.
Jake snapped. He tried to get at Gary but was very surprised at the quickness of the two guys that were there to guard Gary. The guys hauled Jake out of the area. The entire time Jake was making promises of retribution. He promised Gary that this wasn’t over and that by the end of the week there once again would be only one guy selling here. The two brutes warned Jake not to come back to the area unless he was coming to do business.
Jake now walked away. He was defeated for now but he knew he wasn’t going to take this laying down. He did however wonder what the business had come to that his competition was actually using body guards. For Jake it turned out to be a long day. His business had dropped about 80 percent. On top of all that he had to make a product payment. This week was fine because he had a great week but what would happen if he couldn’t get his sales the following week. He didn’t want to think what would happen. He was never in that position before but he knew that his suppliers weren’t nice guys.
The next week rolled around and Jakes business was even worse now. He had no where enough cash to pay his supplier. He decided to be honest and ask for an extension and see what happened. Jake was quite surprised. His meeting went well. The guys he owed money to reminded him that they were a team and that they would help him out in any way possible. Jake was impressed. Maybe things were looking up. He slept the best he did in a week. Come morning however everything would change. All of his endeavors would be hoisted to a new level.
The following morning Jake was awakened by first the sounds of screams and secondly a commotion building out side his cabin. He quickly got out of bed to see what was going on. What Jake saw next was enough to drive him over the edge. This was something that only happened in the movies. There on the side of his cabin were Garys two body guards. It was quite obvious they were dead. There eyes were missing, there hearts were lying at their feet and they were nailed to the wall. Jake knew immediately what happened. He didn’t want to believe it but there was no denying it. His suppliers had decided to help him but in a million years Jake never thought it would come to this. All around him people were crying, throwing up and screaming. Then all at once Jake noticed something funny going on. He saw everybody moving away from him. He didn’t want to think it but he could see how they would. Everybody thought that this was Jakes handy work. After all everybody did hear him threatening Gary.
Minutes later the cops arrived. Jake was sure things would get straightened out now. He was totally wrong because at the end of the day it was Jake that was hauled away in hand cuffs and charged with two counts of murder. It seemed like there was nothing he could say that would make the police think any different.
3 weeks later Jake had his trial. The evidence against him was so over whelming that even he would have convicted him self. Obviously the jury was thinking the same thing because they only needed an hour to come back with a guilty verdict. Jake was sentenced to 50 years for both murders with no chance of parole. After all was said and done Jake guessed that it was his suppliers that set him up so when the guards told him that Gary was there to visit him it was a little surprising.
The conversation went quite well. Jake tried to convince Gary that he was innocent. Gary wouldn’t have any of that but he also knew that their conversation was being monitored. Their talk lasted another 10 minutes before Gary told Jake that he had to leave. He told Jake that his business was thriving. Then Gary did something he knew he wasn’t suppose to do but he also knew that he didn’t need to ever come back to this place. Gary bent over and asked Jake if he liked his handy work he had left on the wall of the cabin. Gary was immediately escorted out. Jake just sat there with the wind knocked out of his sails. He would have never thought it if he didn’t hear it for himself.


Dale Mazurek

Find It If You Can

It was a typical Saturday night in Bradonville. A town of about 5000 people but 60 percent of them being senior citizens, 25 percent adults and the rest being children under 18. So what was there to do on a Saturday night for two underage teenagers? Well one option is to go find a bush party somewhere but Jake and Dallas didn’t feel like partying so they would go with option B for the night. That option was to drive around and try to not get into too much trouble even though they planned on pushing the limits. The boys actually had a plan and the more they talked about it the more they laughed.
The boys were in Jakes 89 Dodge Ram. Even though old the truck was perfectly kept and maintained. The night was still young and Jake and Dallas were just driving around looking at stuff. Women or other teenage girls were what they were mostly looking at. You have to understand in a small town like this pretty much every body knows everybody else. It was definitely a quiet night in Bradonville.
At around ten o’clock their first opportunity came up to have some fun. They pulled up behind a police car at one of the two sets of lights in town. The boys decided to have some fun with this. When the light turned green the boys followed the cop car. They stayed a safe distance behind and didn’t do anything illegal. The boys could tell that the cop was getting frustrated. He started taking some pretty tricky routes but some how the boys managed to keep up to the cop. Finally the cop turned on his flashers signaling for the boys to stop. They did and waited for the cop to walk over to the truck. Of course he questioned them on their tactics. The boys said they were just trying to have some Saturday night fun. The cop was actually pretty nice. He explained that what they were doing wasn’t illegal but rather annoying. He asked the boys to stop. They didn’t want to push their luck so they agreed.
About two hours later the boys came across their second opportunity to raise a little hell with out getting into trouble. They were driving around and heard through the grapevine that there was a stop check by the Homesteader Hotel. They stopped at the 7-11 and bought some glasses and orange juice and out it on the seat between them. So now the boys headed towards the check stop but before reaching it they took a little detour. The boys went down a side road and stopped at the rail way tracks, got out of the truck for a minute and then got back in and headed towards the check stop. As the boys were driving through an officer waved them in to be checked. He shone the light in and saw the juice and glasses but it was also pretty obvious that the boys hadn’t been drinking. The cop did ask them why they stopped at the tracks because you could see them from the check stop. They only replied that they had to go to the washroom. So he told them to move on.
The first thing the boys did was to drive back to the tracks. They got out of the truck again for a few seconds and then headed down the hiway. It wasn’t even 2 minutes when they saw flashers behind them. They were being pulled over. This was actually what they had expected to happen. So Jake and Dallas pulled over and waited. It was actually pretty exciting because it wasn’t just one cop but rather two cop cars were pulling them over. Of course all the questions came up especially the one asking them what they needed the orange juice and glasses for. All they told the cops was that it was for drinking. Well the next two hours was spent sitting in the ditch while the cops went through the truck with a fine tooth comb and of course they didn’t find anything. The guys did notice that the cops were annoyed but they just thought it was hilarious. The cops told them they were free to go but they also warned them to be careful.
The rest of the night wasn’t without its events either. By the time Jake and Dallas went home for the night they had been pulled over a total of seven times and got no tickets. They did however annoy a lot of cops and were even accused of wasting tax payer’s money by playing their little games. The next weekend they decided not to press their luck and went back to going out to the bush parties. However they would always remember that Saturday night as one of the best Saturdays ever.

Dale Mazurek

Dale is presently in the process of getting his first novel published. He has also started dabbling in short stories. You can find some of these on his blog at http://stcajo-readshortstories.blogspot.com/ And lastly he deals a little in the affiliate marketing gig which can be checked out at http://www.7dayebook.com/?hop=stcajo orhttp://stcajo.profitlan.hop.clickbank.net You can also contact him at stcajo2011@yahoo for any info on his writing or products.