text: It’s a typical Monday night. 8 O’clock and I’m just waiting to go to sleep for work tomorrow. I’ve got Monday night football playing on the tube, and a tombstone pizza on my coffee table. It’s chilly outside, crisp air, and clear dark skies. A perfect night for Star gazing. *WOOF WOOF* My dog outside usually barks. Nothing to worry about. Probably just needs some food. I turn down the volume on the TV, grab my Calvin Klein jacket and walk outside. I hate going outside in the dark, on account of my schizophrenia. It just makes everything worse, and today is a particularly difficult day with the illness. Nevertheless, I go to the shed and get a can full of Ol’Roy dog food for my dog, Bear. Bear is laying still on the concrete driveway and doesn’t appear to be spooked. This gives me some reassurance that everything is okay. *You’re fucked* I shrug it off as just an annoying voice I’ve had in the past. I typically hear that kind of shit all the time. It’s usually some obnoxious semi-demonic voice that casually drops the word “fuck”. I pour the dog food into the bowl. Bear still lays still and doesn’t move, but his tail flicks. He begins to growl. I turn around and see nothing. Maybe he’s just growling at me, who knows. I finish pouring the food into the bowl and head to the shed to put the can up. On my way back to the shed I look up and I can see the sky so clearly. It’s beautiful. This is the part of rural Wisconsin I love. The beautiful night sky, with the crisp windy air. It takes any depression, anxiety or other mental illness away in a heartbeat. I’ve always been a believer in - SNAP. Something snaps in the dark. This raises my paranoia to the max. I keep going to the shed, and open the door. This time, I try to turn on the light, but it doesn’t work for some reason. I feel my way to the dog food, and drop the can in the bag. I turn around, and at that moment I hear a squeak. A squeak of a mouse, or maybe the door. I brush it off, and continue back to the house. I walk out of the shed, and look for bear. He’s no longer laying on the concrete. I call out to him “BEARRR!!” Bear comes running up, I greet him and pet him. As I look closer, I realize something is a bit off about bear. He’s walking normal, breathing normal, and feels normal. Yet, there’s something off. I get down on one knee to examine him closer. He has his eyes shut for some reason. I try to open his eyes, and to my shock, I see they are missing. There’s nothing in his eye sockets, just eyelids covering the two holes. I freeze. Bear moves his head up to me, as if he were looking directly at me. At this moment he opens his eye lids, so his empty eye sockets are staring directly at my own eyes. I scream, and fall back on my ass. Bear continues to just blankly stare at me. What the fuck is happening, I think. *FUCK FUCK FUCK* The voices go wild now. *It’s dead, it’s dying, oh fuck, oh shit, what the hell?* At that moment, Bear falls over. He vomits as he lays on his side. He stops breathing, and I scream. I scream as loud as I’ve ever screamed before. My best friend, my everything is dead. I don’t even know what happened to him, what got his eyes? As I scream, I realize Bear is twitching. His body is still alive, but I feel his soul has left. *You’re so fucked, you killed him. You dumbass, save him. SAVE HIM MORON.* I run inside my house. I grab the phone, but at that moment, everything goes dark. Even the moon. There is a figure in my hallway. It stands there and stares at me. As I look at it. My vision gets blurry. *Three days later.....* I wake up in a sweat. I’m laying on my floor. I try to open my eyes, but they just won’t. I take my hand and peel back my eyelid, and suddenly, I feel..... my sockets are empty.