Zebbler's Dreams and Realities

I wake up on a wet slab of granite from something scurrying over me. Yet another mouse is acting crazy. It seems that more and more the animals in this dungeon are losing their fear of humans. They've been running over me and nibbling my skin for a few days by now. And here's another one! And another! This is starting to hurt. One bite I can deal with, but what we have here is nearly a dozen mice, all trying to sink their teeth into me. I scream out and flail, shaking the creatures off. "What now?" - mutters a tall gray figure in the corner. My guard usually has very little to say, so I jump on this opportunity. "The mice are acting really weird," I explain, "It's almost as if they set out to, ow!, set out to drive us out of here or something... This is not normal." The guard would normally care less for my comforts, but by now the mice are starting to get to him as well, so he returns my worried look of concern back to me. They seem to b...

I didn't believe my high school friend when he told me he found human skulls. It wasn't even that he seemed like the type to make things up. It wasn't even that it was that uncommon to find old World War II remains, scattered here or there throughout the farms and hills of Belarus. It was that he had claimed that the remains he found numbered in hundreds and were located in downtown Grodno, the city near which I grew up. That was kind of strange. "I've been trying to tell the authorities about this for a while" - he continued, undeterred by my disbelief. "No one seems to want to listen to me, but they have to - this is a discovery that could go into history books!" This was also kind of strange. How hard was it, after all, to check up on such a simple claim as "hey, there's a skull sticking out from the pavement", even if a claim is coming from a 15 year old. Andrei was right though. He was totally right. The place he brough...

I've had enough reality, so I had to escape into a safe place. As I slept through a tired 15 hour sleep, I have dreamt up my place of solace. It was a mountainous fall terrain, beautiful crisp air all around me. I was with a good friend, hiking through to our camping spot. As we were crossing the bridge, a group appeared. Their leader was dressed in a military uniform, he whispered in my ear as we passed - "hello Peter". I was thrown off, trying to recognize him. He seemed strange. Maybe dangerous. Maybe not. Strange for sure, and unexpected. I strained, but couldn't remember. The group disappeared. So did my friend though. I was alone. At least that's what I thought till I heard rustling and voices under the bridge. I jump down to a cement foundation under and see a couple. They were both friends of mine, having come along with me to this mountainous fall journey. She was a gorgeous, yet slightly aging woman, 35 or so, bare chested, with an olde...