Sand Creek

Reliving

  Pj hears a call over the radio for an armed robbery of a convenient store. With his adrenaline pumping, he doesn't hesitate to push the gas pedal all the way to the floor. It was quiet all night, and he ready for some action. On arrival to the convenient store his sergeant is standing outside with 5 or 6 other deputy's. Pj pulls into the parking lot. His sergeant tells him that the assailant was wearing blue jeans and a red sweatshirt. Pj immediately leaves to search for him.

  After an hour or two, Pj finds himself in a parking lot of a housing project. He knows that this is not a friendly part of town for law enforcement, so he unholstered his side arm and puts it in his lap and backs into a dark spot in the parking lot. Suddenly he spots someone matching the description of the assailant. Pj just sits to see his next move. Suddenly they lock eyes and the man goes running. Pj jumps out of his patrol car and chases the man on foot. He follows the man into one of the apartment buildings with his gun drawn. Pj loses sight of him. He quietly walks down a hallway with flickering dim lights. The hallway reeks of piss and cigarette smoke. He then hears a door slam shut around the corner. He sprints around the corner and finds that it is a dead end with only one door. Without hesitation, he kicks the door open and begins to search the apartment. Everything is quiet in the apartment. He slowly walks down the hallway in the apartment, then he hears a noise on the other side of one of the doors. He aims his gun and hears a faint voice that is mumbling the same thing over and over again. Suddenly the voice gets louder. "Pj wake up!"

  He is suddenly awoken by his fiance Ashlyn. He had tears in his eyes, and his heart was racing.

Pj: "Was i having another night terror?"

Ashlyn: "This was by far the worst one yet. You began to scream and cry!"

Pj: "Im so sorry."

Ashlyn: "There was nothing you could have done. Mistakes happen, they make us better people."

Pj: "I don't see how taking a childs life makes me a better person."

  Pj gets out of bed and walks out of the room without saying another word. He ets in the shower and leans against the wall. He closes his eyes and slips into a daze. He doesn't think, see or hear anything. His mind drowns out the sound of the running water. All he can feel and see is darkness. This provides a sense of terror and comfort at the same time. He begins slip deeper and deeper into this trance like state. He then begins to hear something. Its muffled and distorted. Then suddenly he hears the sound of a gunshot. It was so loud and realistic that he thought it was real. He quickly came to his senses and got out of the shower. He begins to get ready for work. He puts on his uniform and looks at himself in the mirror in disgust. He walks into the kitchen and looks at the calendar on the wall. He begins to smell gun powder and his eyes begin to water. His fiance then walks in.

Ashlyn: "You okay?"

Pj: "June 10th...."

Ashlyn: "What the fuck are you talking about? Are you feeling okay?"

Pj: "It's been one year since..."

  Then before he could finish, Ashlyn walked over and kissed his forehead and hugged him. She then sincerely apologized. They said there goodbyes and Pj Left like Today was out of the ordinary though. On his drive to work he didn't look at his phone one time and there was no music playing like there usually was, just silence. When he arrived to work, he pulled into the parking garage and he doesn't park in his usual spot. Today he parked as far away from another car as possible. It was not usual for him to show this antisocial behavior. After about 20 minutes he finally builds up the courage and motivation to go inside. He turns the car off and walks through the empty parking garage.