text: [Themes: horror]
  
  It is 8:00pm - you are sitting in your favorite reclining chair and watching t.v. when suddenly a special news report breaks into your show...
  
  "Attention...Emergency alert! Those that
  live in the vicinity of Headstone Lane and Graveyard Drive." "A suspicious character has been seen in the area weilding an axe and screaming obsenities." "HE IS VERY DANGEROUS!!!" "Lock all your doors and windows and DO NOT call the police." "They have already been dispatched to the area." "It has been reported by eye witnesses that this character is male, approximately 4 feet 3 inches in height and could be experiencing hallucinations from the new street drug "Methradone". "Those living in the area...be careful and cautious!!" "Now we return you to your program "Planet of the Dead"
  
  You stare in amazement at the screen. YOU live on Headstone lane! Is this a joke? This part of town is populated by retired folks and good church going people, you think.
  
  Suddenly there is a knock at the door. What do you do.
  
  > ask "Who is it?"
  WHO IS IT? you ask...no one answers. You stare at the front door as if it would open on its own.
  
  Louder this time. What do you do...
  
  > just open the door?
  You are shaking in fear as you get up from the recliner and slowly walk over to the door and grab the knob. "Please be there"..."Please be there" you hear whispered from the other side.
  
  You open the door to see Alice, your next door neighbor, crying and shaking at your doorstep.
  
  "What happened?" you ask.
  
  "There is a crazy kid trying to kill me...I need help." Alice blurts out as she faints and falls forward.
  
  You catch her and drag her into your living room.
  
  As you go to close the door...something catches the corner of your eye. It is the shadow of a short figure slowly walking up your driveway!
  
  You slam the door shut and bolt lock it.
  
  "Great...you say to yourself...this midget psycho is after me and I don't even own a gun!!!"
  
  What do you do?
  
  > hide in the kitchen?
  You run to the kitchen trying to find anything you could use as a weapon. Your brand new "Ginzu" butcher knife set gleams as bright as the idea bulb going off above your head. You grab the biggest one and hide behind the counter. Your heart pounds and its hard to control your breathing - trying not to give away your hiding spot.
  
  A terrible feeling of despair overwhelms you as you hear mumbling noises from the living room above the noise of the T.V. It's Alice calling your name. Suddenly you hear another noise of metal hitting wood and Alice screaming in terror!
  
  You can't believe you left Alice lay there as the murdering midget starts to chop down the front door like Jack Nicholson in "The Shining."
  
  What to do?
  
  > come out of hiding and try to save Alice?
  Your heart is still pounding with fear as you find the courage to run back into the living room to get Alice. Alice is laying on the floor and screaming in terror as the door is being demolished by the axe.
  
  WHACK! WHACK!...the door is barely holding on.
  
  A big hole at the middle of the door exposes the crazy mans sweat soaked face. He stops to look inside at both of you. Black strands of matted hair stick to his forehead as the glare of his yellow eyes stop you in your tracks. His lips pull back into an evil sneer and small, corn kernal sized teeth gleam in the light of the living room. Saliva is dripping from the sides of his wicked smile.
  
  "HAA HAA HAAAAAA!!!!" He begins to chop more furiously at the very weak barrier.
  
  You grab Alice under the arm and help her to her feet. She screams to your touch but quickly realizes you've come to help her.
  
  "Quick...run for the back door." you say.
  
  Alice stares at you and you realize she could be going into shock. She suddenly nods "Yes" and begins to run through the kitchen toward the back door.
  
  At that very moment the door gives way to the furious blows and now nothing is standing between you and him. The madman's chest heaves deeply as he takes a step into the room, his eyes darting everywhere. Sweat is dripping from his chin and earlobes. His eyes begin to look tired as they rest on you. He takes a swing at you with his axe but is still too far to hit anything. He is obviously very tired from his battle with your front door.
  
  "I wonder if he's ever heard of windows." you think.
  
  You have an opportunity to end this night of terror right now. Or, you can take off the same way as Alice did.
  
  Which is it??
  
  > battle the midget?
  You automatically look around the room for something to use as a weapon and suddenly remember the butcher knife you already clutch in your right hand.
  
  You quickly raise the knife above your head triggering a response in the midget. He charges at you with all his fury, screaming at such a high pitch it almost sounds inhuman.
  
  The quickness of the frothing figure catches you off guard, his body hitting you right below the belt and knocking you back into the dining area. You both come crashing down onto the dinner table with a horrible...
  
  As you and the madman crash through the table and onto the hard tile floor, the back of your head hits the tile and a twinge of pain travels all the way down your spine and into your legs. You momentarily black out.
  
  When you come to your senses everything seems blurry at first but quickly comes into view. You've already got a headache but that is the least of your fears. At your feet is the midget. He stands there with a wild eyed look on his face. No more smiling or laughing or screaming...just staring with axe held high. It's as if he is waiting for you to make your move.
  
  You feel around the floor with your right arm for the knife but your fingers only come in contact with pieces of dinner table. That's when it happens...the axe comes down quickly, severing your right bicep and fracturing your right humerus...blood spurting from the wound and hitting the tile.
  
  Screaming in pain your left arm automatically comes over to cradle what's left of your right. Your screams are met with shrills and squeals of excitement from the midget. he starts to pace around your body, swinging the bloody axe at his side. Occasionally you feel drops of your own fresh blood hit your face and mouth. You feel faint and want to just give up the ghost...
  
  RREEEEERRRRRR REEEERRRR!!!! Flashes of red and blue surround the walls of the living room and flood the dining room and kitchen.
  
  "This is the POLICE!!!" "We have you surrounded!" "Come out with your hands up!!"
  
  The midget stops at your feet, his head darting around the room, looking for a place to escape or hide.
  
  You take the opportunity to bring your legs up to your chest rolling backwards, at the same time kicking as hard and as fast as you can.
  
  You can't be sure where you hit the creature but you hear the axe clatter onto the tile floor.
  
  You scramble to your feet and wheel about in time to spot the butcher knife laying by the back door.
  
  The thoughts of escaping don't even enter your terror filled mind.
  
  With knife in hand, you whirl around and run over to where the midget is getting to his knees. You come up behind him and put your blood soaked right arm around the neck of the little man and bring the large knife, in the left hand, up over your head and deep into the chest cavity of the midget.
  
  You back away from the bloody mess and scream to the police for HELP!!!! The midget screams in pain...his childlike hands pawing at the blade running deep into him. He still tries to get to his feet but his legs wobble in fatigue. He falls onto his back and finally dies.
  
  Your arm begins to throb and you notice all the blood on the floor. You realize that your heart is pounding and you have lost a lot of blood. You start crying and...
  
  you black out...
  
  > Do you live?
  You awaken to red and blue flashing lights and the shrill sounds of a paramedic van. Three people surround your head...two you don't recognize but the other you know as your neighbor Alice. She is smiling down at you and you give a weak smile back. She bends down to kiss you on the forehead. The other two are paramedics inserting a needle into your arm. You are already on your way to the hospital's emergency room. The pain from your right arm is dull but still demands your semi-conscious attention. You figure you've been pumped full of morphine to ease the pain.
  
  Two weeks later, Alice comes to meet you at your physical therapy session and is amazed at your recovery. Your arm is healing fast and the nightmares are starting to become few. You create a bond with Alice that only an experience of shared intensity can produce. You recieve high praises from the mayor and your community offers to repair your home at no cost to you. Your 15 minutes of fame has arrived as your picture is plastered onto the T.V screen, national magazines, and newspapers.
  
  As for the midget...his body lies in a bag in the county morge. Two weeks ago, a large woman sporting a long, ZZ top like beard enters the room to identify the body as once known midget clown juggler "Li'l Bob" from the Bingham Brothers Circus, which was performing at the local fairgrounds. On that night Bob took a hit of methradone right before his axe juggling act and apparently went ballistic. He had everyone in the big top running for their lives.
  
  The autopsy uncovers the drug he bought in the streets to have been 99% pure. The mind altering drug turned Bob from a cute juggling clown into a deranged killer...but you got him...you killed the murdering midget!
  
  NOTE: YOU DID IT!! Way to go you midget butt kickin' hero you. You have mastered the game. Go back and check out the other crazy endings.