Blind Vision©
(a novel by Mike Nichols)
Chapter One
It was 5 am and Eddie Pierce woke up whimpering...sweating like a poodle shitting carpet tacks. It wasn't the first time he'd woke up like this, and it wasn't the first time he'd had that dream.
Eddie Pierce was not the kind of guy that was easily awakened with "bad dreams". There weren't many men or beasts that intimidated him. Having been raised by a father with a stiffer hand than most. Eddie had a short, but firery temper that kept his dad very busy. He was never a bad kid, just a kid that didn't take anything from anyone. All his life, he had stood his ground. Today he felt as if there was nowhere to stand, no ground of his own. He felt alone.
Sitting on the edge of his bed, he tried to remember what it was that he had just dreamed about. Trying to figure out what it was that made him he feel like this. He sat there for the better part of a half an hour. His kidneys, now screaming for relief. The rude, electronic ringing of the telephone, cut through his mental fog and snapped him back into reality. Shaking out the cobwebs, he got up and crossed his cluttered bedroom to the pile of ringing clothes in the corner. By the time he found it and dug it out, it stopped ringing. Muttering to himself, he dropped it back onto the pile of dirty clothes. Being led now by instinctual needs, he headed for the bathroom.
After he relieved himself, he showered, dressed and headed out the front door towards his pickup. The closer he got to the old Chevy, the more apprehensive he became. As he reached for the door, the hair on the back of his neck stood up as if it were charged by static electricity. He withdrew his hand before touching the handle. He stood, confused, visibly shaken, not knowing what to do. Unable to explain the sudden wave of fear that was now quickly engulfing him. He turned and walked back into the house. Unable to shake the paranoia that was now running rampant, he picked up the phone to call his best and oldest friend. As he dialed the number, memories of Viet Nam flooded his mind. For the first time in years, many years, he felt that deep loneliness and alienation he had felt in the steamy jungles of South Viet Nam. Faces and events, long since forgotten, filled his head with an uncontrollable clarity. As the phone on the other end began to ring, Eddie Pierce's heart stopped. The last word Eddie ever heard was...."hello".
Chapter Two
