Schizogenesis [chapter 6]

Heading for his childhood home, Ed Haswell drove his prize black dually down the rural road, stabbed a Haggard CD into the player and reached up under his dash for his hidden pint. Merle and Wild Turkey. He needed to think.

He crossed the cattle guard and pulled up the washed-out side road. After downshifting to a lower gear, he took a sip and placed the bottle back between his legs. Topping the hill, the old house came into sight. He hadn’t realized how run-down and skeletal it had become. He hadn’t lived there since his father had grown so disgusted that he couldn’t take it anymore and moved the family to town. Six months and two heart attacks later, he accepted death’s peace offerings.

Ed drove around behind the house and stopped. He got out and unhooked the barbwire gate. After pulling forward then putting the gate back in place, he stood for a moment looking at the distant hills to the west and the nearer pine trees. To the east was the creek where he learned to fish and swim.

He loved the place so much that he had never brought anyone to share it with. Not even Dora. He came sometimes to speak with God and sometimes just to think. Getting back in the truck, he turned up Merle, took a swallow then stashed the bottle in its hidey-hole. Slipping the diesel dually into gear, he released the parking brake and eased down the dirt path that was…