Excerpt from "Afar" A short story by: D. Hoover

     He watched the sunset from afar...  Watching the sun disappear behind the Georgia hills like an intangible dream scraping through his hollow existence... As the cold reality of morning touched him with each passing moment... He grabbed his phone from the night stand, and touched it softly, eight minutes before the annoying alarm sounded; marking the end of his dream, and the beginning of another day... He feels both angst and anxiety as he emerges himself into his cratered morning ritual... Caffeine and nicotine... Now fueled, he starts his day...
     Another day, another body to burn... Another alias to create... Another crime to commit... Another filthy regret... Another un-healed scar, through lens of hatred he watches love from afar... A little prayer he mutters as a tiny glimpse of God he sees each time he extinguishes that light in their eyes...Killing is the only thing that makes him feel alive.... It's the only thing left that makes him feel anything at all... Today is going to be a good day...