It was a dark day, even for August. Then again here, these days, it seems it's always dark. No..that doesn't quite explain it. It's always a little more then dark. It sounds silly I know, A few months ago I would have cocked my head to the side in the same manner if you would have said it. But now, nothing surprises me. Hollow-Creek, South Texas. The cliche little place where you could leave your doors unlocked at night and everybody knows everybody. It was cute, ideal really. I mean, I had never been one to dream of a small town life, but to this day moving here was thee best thing I had ever decided. Me and Beth were the first new people to move to town in over 10 years. We had come here from a bigger city in the far east. Beth was pregnant with our first child, and being a young couple we wanted to do everything right. Small town living seemed like a good step in the right direction. Beth always said finding Hollow-Creek was fate, I wonder if she would still think the same if she could see it now. She was always the indubitable one out of the two of us, always my light in the dark. So i guess it goes with out saying that with it being a little more then dark these days, I'd give just about anything to have her back.

His name was Henry Greenwald, after me and Beth settled in to town it wasn't but four months later that he rolled in with his moving truck. It was like a stroke of luck.

"See baby, I told you finding this town was fates way of saying we were doing right, it doesn't matter we're young baby. If it was wrong Henry wouldn't be here, not even you can say other wise honey." Beth always had something perky to chime in.

See, Mr. Greenwald was an Obstetrical gynecologist, and the only down fall of moving to Hollow-Creek up until then was thee closest hospital or doctor capable of handling a pregnancy was 2 hours north, something we conveniently seemed to over look before renting a house. So when Mr.Greenwald came in asking the mayor for permission to open a clinic it was as if the clouds parted and the sun shone down on just us. We were his first patients, and took to him quickly. Tall,with broad shoulders and a trustworthy smile, it wasn't long before he had every man in town a tad fearful of losing their ladies and every women swooning under her breath every time he past them in the super market. However he claimed to have a wife over seas in the service and never once made an advancement toward anyone that was anything more then a warm and friendly hello. He became good friends withe Beth I, as well as a few other families around town. It wasn't odd for him to join us for dinner or walk into the town restaurant and sit with us and chat. He had even had a hand in helping us pick a name for our little one, Matthew Alexander. It was strong, and honest like the father I could only hope to someday be. I never got thee chance though, Week 30, thee third day of February. The rain was falling outside by the bucketful, and Beth was hell bent on bringing in the laundry from the night before. Maybe it had something to do with us fighting and her wanting to do anything but bring out my temper, the one thing about me is I've always had a temper. Once in thee fifth grade I got so angry at this little boy for teasing me I hit him square in the head with a rock, three times over until the principle pulled me off. At least that's how the story goes. I don't really remember it. I woke up in the nurses office thinking I was dreaming, doctors later said it was my brains way of cooping. I don't know much about it, and don't really care to. It's only ever happened one other time and Beth has been loving enough to stay silent since. I remember it all in slow motion bits and pieces. Almost like in that moment someone hit the play pause button over and over again for a start stop effect that has never quite corrected itself. She was wearing her yellow stripped sweat pants under her thick pink rain coat.I knew she was dry underneath it because I use to always joke about how her mom had found that material on the ark as part of the mending to it. She would always then find the nearest object to throw in my direction and correct the fact that Noah didn't have any pink anything when he built the ark. I still wasn't happy with the idea of her being outside in the weather and was fuming about our fight. You see, I had walked in late on an appointment with Dr. Greenwald and saw him leaning over her in a manner that would have turned any mans stomach. She tells me that he was trying to adjust the bed, and I want to believe her, so I was trying all I could not to assume the worst. So as soon as she walked out the door I jumped up to watch her from the kitchen window. I remember smiling and thinking out loud how happy I was to have someone like her, I remember thinking about waiting for the rain to stop to take her to a picnic so I could ask for her hand. I remember seeing Mr Greenwald walk from the trees appear, disappear and reappear all to fast for me to stop the following chain of events. In nothing longer then a minute and a half the grass under Beth's feet went from being soaked in rain water to being covered by her crumpled body. I don't think i can even go back in time and place her scream. After a lag of about ten seconds I lifted her, i couldn't tell what was mud and and what was blood. I did thee only theing I knew.I sank to thee front porch steps and held my arms out to the sky, watching as rain drops slowly washed over the blood and the bits of intestine that covered them."

Awaking with a start, the rain outside had faded to a faint hum and the moonlight made the shadows of our curtains dance across the wall. What an awful, awful dream. T Where was she? She had said she would come to bed after fixing up the kitchen,I guess I must have dozed off.

"Beth? Baby.. where are you?" I guess she fell asleep on the couch, God I know she means nothing of it, but i can't help but feel a little empty at heart when she doesn't crawl under the sheets beside me.

"Beeep Beep Beep" Damn, the alarm already? Work can never start late enough. But with a baby on the way, the more hours I can log the better.

Making my way through the hall to the bathroom, the wood floor under my feet moans as if annoyed to be woken up by thee pads of my socks, I childishly tell it to join the club. The water from the shower head falls quickly into the rhythm with the rain as the muscles in my neck start to creak back to life. Crap, we are almost out of shampoo. Buttoning up the last few buttons of my shirt, and heading out to thee kitchen. I can smell she remembered to start the coffee maker for me. Someday I'll tell her how much she means to me, someday I'll tell her I'd be lost with out her. Today just isn't that day. The coffee is a nice contrast to the kitchen, it always gets a little to cold in the morning, always makes walking to work last longer then it needs to be. Creeping by the couch and out thee front door, I see the mound of blankets on the couch, I want to stop and move her to bed, to kiss her cheek, to whisper I love her. I just keep quietly out the door to assure i don't wake her. She does enough, she needs her rest. Though lately she's been sleeping like the dead.I think back to last week, I can't help but wince at the memories. Our fight was pretty bad, worse then the last and she has kept pretty quiet since. Deathely quite if you ask me, but I just think it's because she is too loving to bring it up anymore. With a guilty sigh I lock the door behind me and look up to the slowing drizzle.

"Damn,It's dark out here today, even for August." Then again here, these days, it seems it's always dark.No, that's not right, it's actually a little more then dark.