Does your past define you? Can you escape from it? Do the actions you take now ripple out and impact those around you? Are you paralyzed from your current circumstance and does upsetting that order, albeit toxic, frighten you? Does the potential future affect the choices you make? Do the shackles of time immobilize you from finding happiness, clarity, or forgiveness?
Jesse Rosenbaum’s newest collection weaves the human experience with that of the otherworldly. Experience thirteen tales about choice, death, fear, angels, demons, ghosts, nightmares, and regret collected in The Shackles of Time.
Does your past define you? Can you escape from it? Do the actions you take now ripple out and impact those around you? Are you paralyzed from your current circumstance and does upsetting that order, albeit toxic, frighten you? Does the potential future affect the choices you make? Do the shackles of time immobilize you from finding happiness, clarity, or forgiveness?
Jesse Rosenbaum’s newest collection weaves the human experience with that of the otherworldly. Experience thirteen tales about choice, death, fear, angels, demons, ghosts, nightmares, and regret collected in The Shackles of Time.
The ashen clouds were gathering over the small gas station as the night sky continued to get darker. A black SUV pulls into the gas station and parks in front of one of the gas pumps. The door opens and Timothy gets out. He shuts the door and makes his way over to the gas tank to remove the cap. While he is doing so, a succession of loud thunderclaps ring out. Timothy looks up toward the sky.
“She's gonna open up tonight, that's for sure,” he says aloud to himself.
He turns his attention toward the pump to pay with his card but sees a piece of paper over the screen that says, Card Payment Not Working, Please Pay Inside. Exhaling his frustration, he makes a note of the pump number then looks over toward the diner across the way. Now he will have to go inside to pay for the gas. He notices the other cars parked in the parking lot. He sees a police car, a tractor trailer without the trailer, a deep blue pickup truck, and an older sedan parked in front of the diner. Just then the rain starts to pour down from the sky, pounding onto everything in sight. Timothy jumps at the suddenness of the rain.
“Ah, goddammit!” he exclaims.
Timothy shrugs up his shoulders in the hopes of lessening the effects of the rain. He quickly returns the gas cap, shuts the cover and begins to run toward the diner’s entrance, escaping the rain. In the short distance it took to cross the parking lot, he feels practically soaked by the ferocity of the rain as he holds his coat up over his short blonde hair. He enters the diner and begins to shake the rain off of his coat in a mixture of frustration and thankfulness for his escape. Sitting at the counter, Omar the police officer and another customer seated at a booth, named Reginald, look over to watch Timothy as he finishes shaking off the rain. Timothy looks up and addresses the two.
“Evening, Officer Matthews. Reggie,” he says as he nods and smiles gently
                                   Â
Â
Omar raises his cup of coffee and acknowledges him as Reggie just replies without even looking at Timothy in a curt manner.
“Tim.”
Tim smirks at the tone from Reggie and notices the vacant look on his unkempt, bearded face as he sips his coffee and continues to read his newspaper. Tim looks over the counter and sees the owner, Frank, through the pass-through window standing in front of a sizzling grill. He hears the sizzling increase as Frank lays another set of burgers down. He also notices the TV mounted up in the corner of the room nearest him. It’s playing a commercial for some prescription he’s never heard of. At the far end of the diner, Tim can see a couple that he doesn’t recognize.
The girl, Lisa, is snuggling up to who Tim can only assume is her boyfriend, Gary. Her hands are wrapped around Gary’s arm with her head nuzzled against him as the two stare giggling at Gary’s phone. Tim walks up to the counter next to Omar. Despite how many times Tim has seen Omar, he is always taken back at Omar’s large, intimidating build. I wouldn’t want him pulling me over, Tim thinks to himself. Tim is not a short man at five-foot eleven inches tall, but he couldn’t help thinking about how Omar seems to tower over him at what Tim figures is at least six-foot five or six inches tall. His chiseled facial features also added to the intimidation that Tim felt in his presence.
“Heya, Frank! When are you gonna get your pumps fixed?”
Frank responds from the kitchen without turning around to address Tim. “When you give me the nine grand needed to fix the one and another fifteen grand to replace the other. Thankfully the computer in here still works…for now.”
“Alright, well I am gonna need forty on pump three, but if it's alright, I'm gonna sit a bit and dry off. No sense getting back out into it so quick.”
“Yeah, sure. Grab a seat. I'll have Carmen come over and getcha square. Hey, Carmen.” Frank waits a moment for a response before calling her again. “Carmen!”
Carmen calls from inside the stock closet, “Yeah? What is it, Frankie?”
“Timmy’s here. See to him and ring him up for forty on pump three, will ya hon?” Frank turns around finally and looks at Tim through the pass. “She’ll be right with you.”
“Thanks,” Tim says as he takes a seat at the booth behind Reggie.
Tim sits on the opposite side, so his back isn’t facing Reggie’s. He can see the white, salty sweat stains on the back of Reggie's navy blue t-shirt as well as the dirt and grease on his hat. Carmen exits the stock closet and begins to walk over toward the counter when she notices Omar. She stops for a moment then continues toward Omar.
“Well, it is Thursday after all. You're early this week, Omar.”
Omar turns to face Carmen. “Slow night is all. How you doing,, Carmen?”
“Same as I was last week, Officer,” she said sarcastically. “You know you can stop pretending you like the burgers here and just admit you're still checking up on me.”
Omar smiles. “Hey, I do like the burgers here. Isn't that right, Frank?”
“Best burgers in the county I promise ya!” Frank adds from the kitchen.
Carmen smirks at Frank then turns her attention back to Omar. “Yeah, well, I'm fine. Okay?”
Carmen makes her way behind the counter then grabs a pot of coffee and a mug. She turns back as Omar slides his cup forward indicating that he would like a refill. Carmen rolls her eyes at Omar and heads around the counter toward Tim’s booth.
“Heya, Tim. Coffee?”
Tim looks up and for a moment gets lost in Carmen’s feathery black hair and green eyes. “Hey, Carmen. Uh…yeah, coffee would be great. Thanks.”
Carmen places the mug down and fills it with coffee until it’s just near the top, like Tim likes it. “You eating anything tonight?” she asks.
“Yeah, why not. Can I get a short stack of french toast with some sausage on the side?”
“Links or patties?”
“Links, please. Oh, and can you just bring me a pot of coffee please? Is that okay?”
Carmen chuckles at Tim’s question. “Yeah, hon…you ask me every time. You should know by now that it's okay to get a pot. I'll get a fresh one just for you. Be right back.”
Tim blushes as Carmen is walking back to put in Tim’s order. She stops at the table in the rear first where Lisa and Gary are sitting. Lisa is still resting her head on Gary's shoulder while he continues to look at his phone.
“Your food is coming right up. You two need anything else right now?” Carmen asks as she stares at Gary’s dirty blonde hair.
“I'm good, thanks,” Gary says without even looking up from his phone.
Lisa unwraps her arms from Gary’s then brushes aside her silky auburn hair from her face. “Can I get another diet with no ice?” she asks.
Carmen nods. “Sure. Anything else?”
“Not right now,” Lisa says as she shakes her head slightly. Carmen turns and walks back behind the counter. Lisa looks suspiciously at Gary’s phone as he seems to be typing a message to someone. “Who are you texting now?” she asks.
Gary rolls his eyes as his head dips backward. He sighs in annoyance and doesn’t even look at Lisa when he says, “No one. Jeez. I'm just looking at my timeline.” Gary quickly taps the upper left corner of his screen then aggressively hands the phone to Lisa in resentment of her question. “Here, look.”
Lisa’s suspicion is overcome by the abruptness of Gary’s response and her desire not to upset him. She can feel herself burying the urge to call him out on his behavior. “Alright...well you don't have to snap at me every time. I was just curious…God.” She nibbles her bottom lip for a moment then places her right hand on Gary’s back. She starts to rub him in a circular motion, reassuring him of her love. “I trust you, baby.” She leans in and kisses Gary.
Gary lovingly looks into Lisa’s eyes. “I'm sorry that I snapped at you, sweetie.”
Lisa smiles then quickly and tightly embraces Gary’s arm once more. “Ooh, I love you.”
Carmen approaches the pass and peeks through at Frank. “Let me get a short stack of French with a side of links, Frankie.”
Frank turns and smiles largely at Carmen. “You got it, cutie. Hey, can you get me some more salt outta the back, hon? I think it's below the garlic.”
“No, it's next to the ketchup and black pepper. I reorganized it last week, remember?” Carmen asks.
Frank raises his spatula up in acknowledgment. “Oh yeah. What would I do without you, huh? I tell ya Omar, I'd be lost without her.”
“She sure is something,” Omar says as he places his coffee cup down.
Carmen starts to walk away toward the storage closet and Omar catches Frank staring at her ass and licking his lips. It gives Omar a chill as he shakes his head slightly in disapproval. Frank turns his attention back to the burgers then remembers he needs to ask Carmen something about the burgers.
“Say…eh, Carmen baby, these burgers…drag 'em through the garden?”
Carmen turns back toward Frank. “Yes, but no onions.”
Frank returns to the griddle and places lettuce down on the bottom of the buns. He gingerly removes one burger at a time and places it on the bed of lettuce he made. Next, he tops each burger with a slice of tomato, three dill pickle slices and then more lettuce. He carefully places the bun on top and inserts a long toothpick topped with a red plastic ribbon through the bun until he feels it hit the plate. Omar watches as he repeats the same process with the second burger. He turns his head toward Carmen as she exits the storage closet with a large container of salt. As she gets closer behind the counter, he motions toward her to get her attention.
“Hey Carmen, I saw the last tip that guy left you. Maybe it’s time to get a new job.” He looks up toward Frank and raises his voice, “Better yet, maybe Frank needs to cook better!”
Frank can be heard scoffing at the comment in the kitchen. He walks over to the pass and peeks his head in view.
“You trying to steal my girl away from me again, officer?” Frank smiles and holds up his chef’s knife in a mildly threatening manner then winks at Omar. “You start that up again I'll be serving extra bacon with my special tomorrow morning.” Frank and Omar start to laugh.
“You watch who you raise that knife to, Frank. You need to give this lady a raise already or I'll shoot ya!” Omar winks at Frank and then takes another sip of his coffee. He places it down on the counter and slides it over toward Carmen. “Please?” he says to Carmen. Carmen smirks happily and refills his coffee this time.
“Sweetheart, you know I'd give ya one if I could, but look at this place. It’s the busiest it's been all week,” Frank says defensively.
“You ain't gotta tell me,” Reggie says sarcastically from his booth. Carmen and Omar turn their attention to Reggie. “I know how it is, Frank. My runs just ain't paying like they used to either. Bastards keep taking the good runs from me.” Reggie picks up his cup of coffee and pauses for a moment before he takes a sip. “Bastards.”
Omar looks back at Carmen as she is still looking at Reggie. Reggie begins to leer at Carmen. She quickly looks away to hide her mixture of disgust and offense. She places the canister of salt on the pass by Frank.
“Listen darlin', you stick with Uncle Frankie. We're going places.”
“That’s right, darlin',” Omar says mockingly imitating Frank. “First place I'm going is to file bankruptcy.” Omar and Carmen start to giggle.
Frank smirks annoyingly at Omar. “Ha, freaking, ha. Don't forget who cooks yer food, Officer.”
Omar raises his cup of coffee silently toasting Frank. Frank smiles, grabs the salt and then walks over to the fryer. He removes and then dumps out a basket of fries in a bowl. He sprinkles them with the salt and tosses them. Using the tongs on the counter, he places a stack of fries on each burger plate.
Carmen calls back to Frank, “You ain't got nothing to worry about, Frank. I'm not going anywhere. After all, like you said, you'd be lost without me.”
“So true, my dear,” Frank says.
Carmen turns back and moves closer to Omar then whispers, “Why you always gotta do that? I'm happy here.”
Omar leans in closer and whispers in response, “I don't know who you're fooling here, but it's not me. You're wasting away here. You deserve more than this and you know it.” Omar stares at Carmen as her expression becomes annoyed and then suddenly sullen. “Hey, you alright?”
Carmen refocuses and looks squarely at Omar. “I don't, alright. Look, I know you mean well Omar, but just stop it, okay? You come in every week checking up on me and I appreciate it, I really do, but I'm fine. It's been over a year and I'm past it all. I just wanna leave it in the past.”
Omar shrinks back, “I'm sorry, it's just...I just...”
Frank places the burger platters in the pass. “Order up!” he calls to Carmen.
Carmen picks up the two plates and heads over toward Gary and Lisa. She places the plates down in front of them. “Two cheeseburger platters, no onions with fries. Anything else for ya?”
Gary is still looking at his phone when he replies, “Nah.” Lisa just smiles at Carmen.
“Put yer phone down and eat before it gits cold, boy,” Reggie says loud enough for Gary to hear.
Lisa and Gary look up and stare in shocked silence. Lisa has a look of disgust on her face as she whispers to Gary, “What a jerk. You gonna say something?”
“Just leave it. Let's eat,” Gary says.
Lisa nibbles on her lip. “Well, at least you're off your phone.”
Gary sighs then starts eating. The rain is now falling harder outside and the thunder claps loudly causing everyone in the diner to take notice. Then the lights flicker inside.
“Aw, hell,” Frank says loudly from the kitchen. “Goddamned rain. Tim, did you know about this one?”
“Well, I knew it was gonna rain, but I didn't think it was gonna hit so fast. It's really coming down out there,” Tim says.
Reggie turns around to face Tim. “Guess that internship isn't going too well then, huh?”
Frank snickers from the kitchen as Tim looks embarrassed by the remark but tries to brush it off. “Ha-ha, Reggie. Ya know, I feel like all this crazy weather we’ve been having has to do with events similar to what happened back in 2010 in Chile and then with Japan in 2011.”
“Here we go,” Reggie says while raising his hands up in expectation of what is coming next. “Go on, show us simple folk your edu-ma-cation."
Tim just smiles at Reggie sarcastically then continues. “Well, think about it. When enough earthquakes of those magnitudes occur, it can affect things. If the earth shifted its axis because of those earthquakes even a little, isn't it plausible that the weather patterns could be chaotic now? I think that the planet is readjusting. Couple that with things like global warming and you get this sort of unexpected and violent weather.”
“Sheesh,” Reggie sneers. “Global warm-son, I may not be able to use the scrabble words that you do, but I can explain this all too, you know?”
Tim shakes his head. “I know what you're gonna say already. There's only one thing that explains all this.”
Tim and Reggie both respond in unison. “God.”
“Damn straight,” Reggie says confidently.
“I'm not gonna go down that road again with you, Reg.”
“Hallelujah,” Reggie says as he takes a sip of his coffee.
Tim hesitates thinking carefully about his next response. “Well, regardless of the reason, it’s happening, and we are all adjusting to it. That’s all.”
“Each to their own I suppose,” Reggie says as he turns back around and lifts up his newspaper from his seat and continues reading. Suddenly there is another loud burst of thunder and a huge flash of lightning outside. Everyone in the diner flinches at the explosive thunder. Reggie looks outside briefly and then turns back to his newspaper. Tim is looking outside with a smile as he wonders where the lightning may have struck. Lisa snuggles closer and places her hand on Gary’s chest willing him to protect her. Gary just looks over at her apathetically.
“This storm is getting scary, babe,” Lisa says.
“Relax, sweetie. It'll be all right.”
Gary’s phone illuminates and vibrates on the table across from him and Lisa. A text message comes through from a number, not a contact. Lisa looks over and just sees the number with no message preview. Lisa is suspicious, but her inner voice is arguing with itself on whether she should confront Gary. Settling on silence, she abruptly pulls herself away from the warm comfort of Gary and starts eating her food with an annoyed look on her face in the hopes that he will notice. Gary does notice both the text and Lisa’s response but is more worried about Lisa finding out the contents of the message than her current attitude. He continues eating his food hoping that his refusal to acknowledge the situation will make it go away.
Back at the pass, Frank places a plate of French Toast with sausage up on the pass. “Order up!”
Carmen grabs the plate, maple syrup and a small bowl of butter. She walks over to Tim and places it down in front of him. “Here’s your short stack, Tim. And some syrup and extra butter just the way you like it.”
Tim smiles. “You know me too well. Oh, could you start brewing me another pot of coffee? I got about two maybe three cups left in this one.”
“You must never sleep with all the coffee you drink, Tim,” Carmen says.
“I get about four hours a night, which suits me fine,” Tim says as he slathers his French toast with butter. “I'm far too busy for a full eight anyway.”
“All right, speedy. I'll put on a fresh pot for ya.”
Carmen walks back behind the counter and starts prepping a fresh pot of coffee. She finishes pouring in the coffee grounds, places the lid back on and hits the brew switch. Frank comes around from the back and stands next to Carmen.
“Sweetie, when you finish that can you go get some more ketchup, cooking spray and black pepper from the back for me. Ever since you re-arranged the back, I can never find anything like you can.”
Carmen laughs. “Well, not for nothing Frank, but the way you had it before, it was a damn miracle you found anything in there.”
“Oh, and darlin', I think my spatula is finally going. Can you check if we got a new one back there?”
“It's about time you tossed the old duct-taped wonder.”
Frank shrugs at the comment. “Hey, I always say, if it works, why mess with it? But now it's not working so good.”
“Sure thing, Frankie.”
“Once again, I’d be lost without ya, darlin'.” Frank gives Carmen a big hug.
“Yeah, yeah. You're welcome,” Carmen says as she smiles and walks away.
Frank leers at her again as she walks away. This time Omar clears his throat loudly enough to let Frank know that he sees what he’s doing. Frank just smirks at Omar then walks over toward him. He leans in to talk to Omar. “Omar, I know you mean well, but what are you doing? I mean don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I like having you here and hey, business is business.”
“I know, Frank. It's just…you know what happened, and well, it's not surprising he left. When I heard that, I just felt…I don't know, like I could help her,” Omar says.
“I know you're a cop and all, but you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped,” Frank says to Omar. “Her severance gave her enough to get a small place and cover some rent while she hit her groove here. She's doing fine. You have to see that by now. She's the best thing that ever happened to me here. Doesn't hurt that she's gentle on the eyes. Customers love her too.”
“She's not just eye candy, Frank,” Omar says combatively. “She's hurting and she's burying it. It's gonna eat her from within. She's going to let that loss paralyze her life. I can't sit by and watch it happen.”
Frank stares at Omar quizzically then has an epiphany. “Well, I'll be...you're sweet on her aren'tcha.”
Omar blushes. “I'm...just a friend who is concerned. Nothing more.” He quickly takes a sip of his coffee hoping it will end the conversation.
Frank smiles and nods. “Uh-huh. Listen, it's not my place to judge, really, but just let her be. She's doing fine.” Carmen returns with her hands full and is headed back toward Frank and Omar. “They'll never cover the spread officer. You'll see.” Omar smirks at Frank as Carmen passes them and walks into the kitchen. She places the items down on the counter as Frank walks in behind her.
“Well, say good-bye to the wonder spatula,” Carmen says with a smile as she tosses the old spatula into the trash. Frank smiles and places his hand on Carmen’s shoulder.
“It had a good three-year run,” Frank says.
Back at the counter, Omar turns toward Reggie. “Whatcha reading, Reggie?”
Reggie doesn’t look up from his newspaper. “Classifieds. Might need to take my rig to a company. Being an owner operator ain't like it used to be. These damn runs just don't pay like they used to.”
“That’s a shame,” Omar says.
“Damn straight. If I can’t drum up some business, it’s either give up being an owner operator to go work for a company or get a second job and I need that shit like a hole in my head.”
“Well, I can ask the highway patrol if they know of any companies hiring. They see and pull over enough rigs on their stretches of road. After a while you make connections.”
Reggie nods his head in agreement. “I appreciate that, officer, I do. However, God will show me the way if I'm worthy of his mercy. I just need to be patient while he lights the way.”
“Sure thing, Reggie, but I am going to put some feelers out and see if anything comes from it. After all, perhaps the lord led you to me to help light the way.”
“Maybe. I suppose time will tell. I appreciate you, officer.” Reggie raises his cup up toward Omar showing his thanks.
Omar motions his hand as if tipping a hat on his head with a closed mouth smile. He turns back around and drinks his coffee. Reggie returns to his paper, but then looks back at Lisa. He stares at her as he imagines her kissing him passionately on the mouth as he grabs a handful of her auburn hair. Reggie can feel his heart quicken and blood start to swell in his groin. Lisa looks up toward Reggie and sees him staring at her again. She is surprised by his gaze and can almost read his mind with the way his eyes are searing into her. Reggie quickly turns back around to his paper realizing that he has been caught staring. Lisa shoulders instinctively go up showing her disgust at what just happened. She grabs her soda with both hands and pulls it in close making herself small. She takes a sip and then lays her head again on Gary’s shoulder to feel close to him, to feel secure.
Carmen walks back over to Omar. “Are you going to want another cup officer, or shouldn't you be on your way to a call or something?”
“Yes, to the coffee and nope to the call.” Omar smiles at Carmen. “Besides, I'm on my dinner break.”
Carmen starts to top off Omar’s coffee. “Look, I meant what I said before. You don't have to keep checking up on me. I've moved on.”
“But that's just the thing, you haven't. Look, I know what happened is hard. Actually, I can't even begin to imagine just how hard, but I see you week after week and I don't see someone moving on. I see someone stuck and afraid to recognize it.” Carmen stands up straighter and folds her arms across her chest as she stares defiantly at Omar’s comments. “Look...all I am saying is the hurt and sadness you have inside can eat you up and paralyze you from moving on. All of us can be consumed by the feelings we hold in and refuse to show the light of day. It's not healthy.”
“Gee, I didn't realize you were moonlighting as a therapist now too, officer,” Carmen says mockingly.
“I'm sorry, I just—”
“Now you look,” Carmen interjects, “You can't imagine the hell I have been through and only I know where it has brought me, but that’s on me to deal with. It's on me, not you. I appreciate you coming in, I truly do, but please, when it comes to what happened, just...just let it be, okay?” Carmen can feel a tightness starting in her throat as tears are slowly building. “Be right back, Frank,” she says before her voice has a chance to break. She turns and quickly heads to the restroom.
Frank peeks out of the kitchen and sees Carmen quickly moving to the bathroom. He looks over at Omar and stares disapprovingly. He mouths the words, let it go, to him. Carmen opens the bathroom door and quickly shuts it behind her. She turns on the light and stares at the mirror. She can sense the ocean of tears trying to burst through the wall she has built up. She tries to breathe and quell the waters, but it’s useless. As she starts to cry, she quickly covers her mouth to muffle the sudden escape of her pain and sadness. Then all of a sudden, a large bolt of lightning strikes and the thunder crashes like an explosion. The lights go out in the diner and Carmen is now standing in a pitch-black bathroom. The suddenness of the events shock Carmen so much that she has stopped crying. She turns toward the door and sees no light coming in from the bottom.
“Frank?” she yells. “Frank, have the lights gone out there too?” She waits for a moment but receives no response. “Hello?” she calls, but once again hears nothing. Carmen reaches forward nervously in search of the handle. She feels its cool texture in her hand and twists it to open the door. She swings the door open and is blinded by a white light. She shields her eyes as she walks forward returning into the diner. The light fades quickly, and her vision returns to normal. As she stares into the diner, she sees Reggie sitting at the table staring intently back at Lisa. His breathing is fast and loud, and Carmen can see that his hand is down his pants moving rapidly. Carmen gasps at the sight of it and upon hearing her, Reggie turns his attention to Carmen. He smiles wide at her and accelerates his furious massage, grunting as he does it. “What the hell are you doing, Reg—”
“Stop looking at your fucking phone!” Lisa shouts from the booth to Carmen’s left.
Carmen looks over to find Lisa strangling Gary with her bare hands. She’s shaking him violently, but Gary is strangely still looking at his phone, swiping. His face is the definition of apathetic as Lisa attempts to squeeze him into submission. “You're supposed to be spending time with me! Not texting some whore!” she screams as she continues to choke and shake him. “Love me!” she yells. Then she pulls him in closer until his face is less than an inch away from hers as she screams even louder into his ear, “Love me!”
“My God, someone stop her!” Shocked at the sight of what she is seeing, Carmen starts to move toward Timothy. “Tim, help me!” When she looks over at Tim, he is quickly chugging his cup of coffee. She watches as the coffee trickles out from the side of the cup and runs down his face. When he finishes the cup, he slams it back down to the table and aggressively pours another cup and the black liquid overflows onto the table and down onto Tim’s lap as he mumbles quickly to himself.
“Air pressure. Earthquakes. Rapid temperatures. Adjustments, adjustments, we have to adjust to the sudden changes. Changes. Changes. I changed the files. Updated. Good at it. I'm good, good, good at what I do.” Tim quickly drinks another cup of coffee and then slams it back down to refill it once more. He drinks the coffee and starts to cry. He drops the cup, and it slams to the floor at Carmen’s feet then continues mumbling. “Good at what I do. Why? Why? Why? Just notice me. I'm friendly. I'm warm, warm, warming oceans, melting ice caps.”
Carmen is stunned and doesn’t know how to handle what is happening. She starts backing away toward Omar and then bumps into him. Omar stands quickly and comes around in front of Carmen facing the scene unfolding in the diner.
“Ma'am, you need to get behind me. I'll take care of this,” Omar commands.
Carmen places her hand on Omar’s back. “Thank God, Omar. You have to stop this. I don't know what the hell has gotten into everyone.”
Omar turns to face Carmen. “It's okay. I'm here for you. I'll protect you. Always.”
“Wait, what?” Carmen stares quizzically. “Omar, are you alright?”
Omar removes his gun from its holster and turns back around to face Reggie and levels his gun at him. “Sir! Stop what you are doing and place your hands on the tabletop,” he yells in a commanding voice. Reggie is staring at Lisa again continuing his masturbatory onslaught. Omar turns his attention toward Lisa and aims his gun at her. “Ma'am, take your hands off the gentleman and move away. Sir, put down the phone!”
Carmen quickly gets behind the counter and starts to head toward the kitchen. “Frank?” she yells. “Frank, where are you? What the hell is going on?”
Suddenly Carmen hears a loud slam almost like that of a door followed by a voice screaming, No! Carmen turns toward the direction the sound seemed to come from. She takes one step forward then stops as the loud cries of a baby echo inside the diner.
“Your fault!” a man’s voice screams.
Carmen turns toward the windows at the front of the diner behind the booths. She stares in confusion as the voice she just heard was her ex-husband, Theo. As she stares outside into the darkness, lightning crashes and she sees the silhouette of a shadowy figure walking out front. As the lightning strikes again, Carmen can better see the shape of the shadowy figure and notices that there are tentacles where its arms should be. Carmen stumbles backward into the counter at the sight of the creature. Her breathing starts to drown out the sound around her. The baby’s cries once again fill the diner. Carmen quickly raises her hands to cover her ears to try and silence the crying, but it only muffles the sound.
Theo’s clear voice cuts through all the background noise and muffled cries. “You did this.”
The moment Theo finishes speaking, the diner becomes completely quiet. Carmen looks over at Omar and the others and they are still interacting just as she had left them, but she cannot hear a thing, like someone had muted them all. She turns and runs into the kitchen to find Frank. She finds him standing at the grill cooking with his back toward her.
"Frank, what the hell is going on? Have you seen what is happening out here?”
“It's okay hon, come here,” Frank says as he turns around and hugs Carmen. She starts to cry once in his embrace. “Everything is gonna be alright. I promise,” he says reassuringly as he starts to rub her back with his hand like a parent would with a worried child. “You don't ever have to go anywhere else again.”
Carmen stops crying and opens her eyes. “What…what did you say, Frankie?”
Frank tightens his grip around Carmen. “You're safe here. You don't ever have to worry about your past again. You and me are going places, hon.”
Carmen starts to panic at the strength in which Frank is holding her now and starts to struggle to break his arresting embrace. “Let me go, Frank. Come on now. Let me go dammit!”
Just then Omar appears in the doorway of the kitchen and levels his gun at Frank. “Sir! Let go of the woman and step away!”
“Let me go!” Carmen says once more and then breaks away from Frank. She runs back toward Omar and cowers behind him like a shield. “What the fuck is wrong with everyone?”
“It's okay, ma'am. I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you.”
“Why do you keep calling me ma'am?”
Omar starts to back out of the kitchen and head toward the front of the counter. “Ma'am, it's best you let me take you home.” He holsters his weapon and then turns to face Carmen and looks intensely into her eyes. “To our home.”
Carmen takes a few steps away from Omar into the front of the diner. “Our home? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Come on ma'am, it's time we left.” Omar reaches for Carmen’s arm, but she pulls away. She backs away toward the front door of the diner. She surveys the room and sees everyone still acting the way that she left them.
She starts with a whisper and ends with a yell. “What the fuck is wrong with all of you!”
Carmen turns and opens the door to leave, but standing in front of her is the creature. It is dark outside, but the darkness of the creature stands out against the nighttime landscape outside the diner. Almost as if all of the light disappeared into the shape of this creature. She screams at the sight of it and backs away. The creature raises up its tentacle arms and thrusts them outstretched against the outside entrance of the diner barring any exit. She slams the door in defiance of the creature. Just as she does a loud screeching noise can be heard echoing all around Carmen. It’s so loud that it hurts her to listen to it. She once again slams her hands over her ears to try and silence the noise then drops down to the floor. Her back is now resting against the front door in the hopes of keeping the creature at bay. She opens her eyes to look into the diner and a brilliant white light pours from the bathroom and blinds Carmen as it engulfs the diner.
“This is your fault!” Theo can be heard yelling. “You did this! How could you let this happen?"
The cries of the baby return as Carmen hears her own voice now. “It was an accident.”
“Dropping your keys is an accident. Forgetting the milk is an accident,” Theo insists. “Falling asleep in the bed with our child then rolling on to her while she slept and suffocating her is not a fucking accident! This is your fault! How could you let this happen?”
“I'm sorry. Can't you see that?” Carmen hears herself say sobbingly. “Where are you going? You can't leave me. Please, Theo! Don't go!”
A door can be heard slamming in the distance. The white light subsides, and Carmen is laying on the floor against the door crying.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispers to herself. The creature outside the door starts to laugh at her in guttural tones. Carmen sits up with her back against the door once more. “I can't...” she whispers. She looks back into the diner and everyone is where she left them, but they are all motionless and staring at her now. Frank can be seen peeking through the pass at her. Their expressions are stoic as their stares try to drill into her. “I just can't,” she says slightly louder now. The creature can be heard running its tentacles across the door now, challenging Carmen. Carmen stands and faces the closed door. “I can’t live like this anymore,” she says defiantly as she opens the door and stands face to face with the dark creature. She balls both of her hands into tight fists at her side as she feels tears rolling down her face. She takes a deep breath then let’s out a thunderous yell. “I won’t live like this anymore!”
The lights in the diner all suddenly come on at once. Carmen jolts her head up as if awaking from a nightmare and finds herself staring into the bathroom mirror. Carmen is confused and surprised to find herself back in the bathroom. She wipes the tears away from her face and turns to exit the bathroom. She opens the door expectantly but finds that when she does, everything and everyone is back to normal. Gary and Lisa are eating their food. Tim is drinking his coffee and talking to Reggie.
“Thank goodness that was just a flash. You should invest in a generator, Frank,” Tim says loudly from his booth.”
“If you want to invest, be my guest, Timmy,” Frank says from the kitchen.
Carmen is just standing there as Omar turns to notice her. “Everything alright, Carmen?”
Carmen doesn’t know how to respond initially and just stands there listening to the sound of her breath. Everyone is now staring at Carmen except Reggie who is just drinking his coffee. After another moment of awkward silence, Tim inquires.
“Carmen? You…you okay?” He looks over at Omar with concern.
Omar straightens up in his chair. “Carmen? Say something,” he insists.
Frank hears what is going on and peeks out through the pass to see Carmen just standing there. “You okay, hon?”
“I uh…” Carmen says. “I have to go.”
“What did ya say?” Frank asks.
Carmen straightens up and takes a confident breath. “I have to go.” She starts to walk toward the counter opposite the pass in direct sight of both Omar and Frank. She unties her apron as everyone in the diner watches now, including Reggie. She grips the apron in her hand and stares at it for a moment then looks up at Frank and then to Omar. She looks Omar in the eyes and says, “It's time for me to go.” Then places the apron down onto the counter. She looks at Omar once more and smiles then walks toward the entrance of the diner. She grabs her purse from a shelf in the hallway to the kitchen and slings it over her back. She steps toward the door and stops in front of it. She places her hand on the cool metal handle and closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath then opens the door. After standing there for just a moment she opens her eyes expecting to see the figure, but there is nothing except the stillness of the night, the landscape of the diner parking lot, and its gas pumps in front of her. The rain has stopped and the smell coming from its effect on the dry earth was strong in the air. She breathes it in deeply and it feels cleansing as it courses through her. She feels her shoulders relax more than they have done in a very long time. She confidently walks out the diner toward her car to head home. She smiles as she opens the car door and climbs in. She looks up to find Omar standing in the doorway to the diner. He smiles gently and nods his head at her. She puts the car in reverse, backs up into the parking lot swinging the car around, readying it to drive forward. As she places the car into drive, she smiles once more as she realizes that at last, she is finally ready to accept her past and drive forward confidently into an unknown future.
A young woman, haunted by her past. A pocket watch that stops time…while summoning demons. A series of nightmares that help one man face his fears and drive another to insanity. A fallen archangel seeking to turn the world against God. An abusive boyfriend that haunts his victim from the afterlife. A cheating real estate agent who is ruined by his lies. A bartending demon who must face collectors sent by the devil. A food delivery woman with an affinity for poisonous plants. A deal with a demon that revolves around pain. And an online troll who finally faces the consequences of his actions. Explore these thirteen tales of guilt, death, evil, choices, demons, and angels through Jesse Rosenbaum’s book The Shackles of Time.
I would rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. Though I usually find collections of short stories unsatisfying, The Shackles of Time was amazing. Each of the stories was well-written and paced perfectly, with a spooky atmosphere that is extremely hard to find. The stories pulled me in immediately and held my interest captive throughout. I couldn’t put the book down, and each story kept me on the edge of my seat as I waited to learn what would happen to each character.
If you are a fan of any of Stephen King’s writing, but especially his short story compilations, this is the book for you. Stephen King is one of my favorite authors, and Jesse Rosenbaum’s writing had similar levels of spookiness and anticipation. I would recommend this book to horror lovers, even if you do not especially enjoy short stories, as each story has a complete plot arch and there is a satisfying thematic flow. However, I would suggest you avoid this book if you have trauma related to accidental infant death, murder, suicide, cyberbullying, or druggings. Otherwise, definitely buy this book as your next spooky read and enjoy this thrilling horror compilation