Robin J. Harrison

He woke to a phone call. Blindly, he reached for his phone, slapping his glasses into the floor in the process.     "Hello..?" He answered, groggily.     "Hey, it's Catherine from the office. We found a bunny abandoned in another apartment. Would you like to take him in?"      He was wide awake now.       "Oh. Um, certainly. Let me get ready, and I'll come to the office to get him."     "Wonderful. Thank you so much. I didn't want to have to call animal control to come and get him."     Ten minutes later had Rena walking down to the office. He entered apprehensively, not used to just being able to walk in at the drop of a hat, but the receptionist welcomed him excitedly.     "Hey, thanks for coming. The bunny is over here." She led him to a cage that was far too small for the bunny inside, with far too little hay for the little guy, and the wrong type of water dispenser.     "Thank you for cal...

He stands at the cash register, bored out of his mind. The 3rd shift is really the slowest out of the three shifts he's worked at this convenience store. He's already cleaned the store twice, the coffee pots three times, and counted the cigarettes four times, all out of pure boredom.  Just as he decided to go out onto the floor again, this time to zone and front-face the store for the second time, someone came in, walking right up to the register. "Hi!" He put on his best customer service smile. "Welcome! What can I do for you?" He moved to the side so the customer could see the cigarettes, in case that's what he was looking for. A gun is placed on the counter. "I want all the money in the register." His blood ran cold. He began shaking.  He swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes, sir." His life was not worth the measly hundred he had in his register. He opened the register, keeping an eye on the gun and the man as he pulled out the cash. Af...

With my hands held behind my back and a knee keeping my on the ground, there isn't much I can do about the gun pointed to my head. The man in front of me reads from a book in a language he made up, one hand holding the book, the other holding the gun steadily between my eyes. I want to beg him to please don't kill me. Please don't pull the trigger. Please, just let me prove that I can still be useful. But my voice won't work. I'm not sure if it's because of his conditioning, or out of anxiety, but I can't speak to save my life. Literally. I can't believe I'm dying at 14. The book slams closed. The prayers over. He looks at me, nothing but hatred in his eyes. "May your next life treat you better than this one did."  He pulls back the hammer. "I'll find you again once you've reincarnated." His grip tightens. My mother and sister look away. I take a deep breath, squeezing my eyes shut. The door opens. "Hey! Is Lee home?...

Knock... knock... knock... The little girl looked up from her book. Had that knock come from the window?  She looked outside. There wasn't anyone there.  She opened the window and looked from side to side. Still nothing. Just the smell of sulfur. Confused, she shrugged and closed the window back, going to finish her book. The next day, her father seemed... off. Irritable, even.  The trend continued for about a week, with her father just getting angrier and angrier, until he finally snapped and back-handed her mother. They fought while the girl hid in her room, crying harder with every glass breaking, and every scream or shout. She woke up the next morning to a hole in the master bedroom, but her mother otherwise unharmed.  Knock... knock... knock... Her head whipped to the window. There was the face of a small boy, around her age, staring back at her. He waved. She shook her head. Knock... knock... knock... He rapped on the window. She shook her head firmly. She'd ju...