Panting, I raced down the river. Neither me or my pursuers make a sound louder than the raging river.

“Get him!” I faintly hear. A man is running on the side of the river trying to catch me. Leaning, I maneuver my boat to glide into the center. Then I see the waterfall. Deadly, but beautiful, I go flying. My boat spins through the air. I crane my neck to see if my attackers have caught up with me. But there’s no one there. My boat hits a rock and breaks. Plunging me under siege, under the surface. The river pushes me and swirls me with its rapid currents. “How do I escape.” I scream. Not a question but a statement, into the water. Swimming against the tides brings back memories. The good. And inevitably, the bad. I see my wife’s body on the floor of our home. My life was destroyed that day. All because of who I was…. I find my voice, but I’m fading to oblivion.

I wake, tv remote in one hand, some drink in the other. I see my dog licking the floor. I can smell his breath. “Well look who’s got a taste for Scotch.” Staring at my watch, it’s one am. I throw my glass at the wall, liquid running down the wall. Static blinks on the TV. I slap the side of it. But nothing happens. I turn trying to find the remote that I dropped somewhere. All I find is the picture of me and my wife. In the reflection I can see something. A…a hand stretching from the TV. “Jake! Jake!” I hear my wife’s voice from it. But as I turn nothings there. I walk closer and slap it again.

A hand bursts out and a screaming face follows. Stitched with agony. Shocked I jump back, but it grabs my belt. More hands come. Grabbing me. Pulling me. I scream and kick as I am grappled into the TV. My dog whimpers in a corner. A hand grabs my face and as I am pulled through the vortex my phone beeps, reading.

“Anniversary of the death of Lisa Debra Stags. Loving wife, daughter, and friend.”

My wife.