This is part of a series of short inter-connected stories I wrote. Read "Ancient Sacred Crypts Of Egypt" here.

This is the night, and morning after.

2:59 AM 3:00 AM flashed the alarm clock angrily.

Jack was sleeping it off on the couch. His glasses slid off his face and into the filthy oblivion that now was his floor. Time paused now, stopping the moment to reflect and wonder where it was going. Leo was doing likewise.

Leo sat in the armchair with his head in his hand, contemplatively staring at Jack. He was tired of performing for them. The apartment was dark except for the constant glow from the streets below that hinted through the window. It was silent apart from the television in the neighboring apartment that blared infomercials about God-knows-what for "Only four easy payments of $19.95!"

3:02 AM 3:02 AM blinked the clock.

A swindler, Leo thought, just like a frigging con artist. I always lose. He could not watch the clock anymore. He pondered what Jack meant when he voiced about creating illusions of life and livelihood to make up for our numbness. Is it that we're trying to get closer to the action, or just play out our fantasies? Leo thought of the neon bird hanging over the door of the bar. He thought of how he let Noah rig the match. He wondered why he had ever gotten involved with Noah. Noah the bookie. Noah the jerk. The one with all the money.

It was his fantasy.

"If you call now, we'll send you..."

Blood thumped in his brain.

3:04 AM 3:04 AM

A cool breeze blew through the jammed-open window, languidly turning the pages of Jack's hardcover book left open on the nightstand. A hanging fern swung like a railroad signal, ding, ding, back and forth. Jack stirred in his sleep and began groggily humming a song that Leo thought nothing of. Then again, he rarely recognized songs. What are you dreaming about; Leo asked in his head, what do you see in that messed up head of yours?

3:11 AM 3:11 AM

Ding, ding.

"Only available here!"

Leo rose out of the chair, the blanket falling to his feet. He picked up his green jacket, walked slowly to the door, and slid the chain open. There he turned the bolt lock. His knuckles were raw and stinging with pain, but he never winced. He stopped in the doorway, leaning his hand, then forehead, against the doorframe, without breaking his gaze of Jack, still sleeping on the couch. It was the least he could do to take him home. Jack was his friend. Why did you trust me, he asked himself repeatedly, when you knew the truth the whole time? He hoped the booze had softened the blows. He closed the door behind him, locking it from the outside and pushing the key underneath.

When he left the building, it started to rain oppressively. Steam escaped the sewer grate as little clouds under the yellow lamplight. What a waste, he thought I'm never going back to them again. The rain fell harder. He cursed Noah. Leo turned his collar up and walked down the deserted street hunched over.

3:22 AM 3:23 AM

Rumble-and-a-roar.

Ding, ding.

"Store anywhere!"

Jack woke up reeling with the sounds of the rain crashing inside his scull. He tried to stand but fell over and hit his head on the edge of the table. He somehow managed to drag himself to the toilet and, boosting himself up on his elbows, released several pints into the bowl. He swallowed hard, trying to hold it down, but his body was forcing the alcohol out faster than he could suppress it. Again, he vomited; spraying out semi-digested chum he had enjoyed so much that evening. It tasted better going down. As he kneeled there, watching indeterminate food chunks float around the porcelain, he felt dizzy again and slumped onto the tile floor. He ran down a mental list of the few things he could immediately recall from that evening. His eyes burned. He closed them.

3:35 AM 3:35 AM

Rumble-and-a-roar.

Leo waited under the unlit lantern for the late train. He remembered that the trains stopped running at two. He searched his pockets for a quarter and picked up the receiver of the pay phone. A dark engine roared past. Leo stopped mid dial and turned to watch.

Boxcar.

Boxcar.

Boxcar.

I am no longer. He turned back to the phone. He forgot what number he had stopped on. He cursed Noah again.

3:37 AM 3:38 AM

Boxcar, boxcar, boxcar.

Rumble-and-a-roar.

Ding, ding.

"It's an unbelievable bargain!"

He pulled himself erect, and, after flushing the contents of his stomach down the pot, opened the medicine cabinet and gargled with Listerine. When he closed the mirrored door, he saw the purplish swelling around his right eye. He owed Noah money. Noah made him fight. Now his debt was paid. His head was still foggy, so pain of Leo's punch had not settled in yet. He took two aspirin and vowed to call himself in the morning. He was too drained to laugh.

He staggered back into the room. He checked the dead bolt, picked up the blanket, and went to bed. He wasn't a fighter. Everyone knew that. They still bet on them.

3:48 AM 3:48 AM

Gurgle.

Boxcar, boxcar, boxcar.

Rumble-and-a-roar.

Ding, ding.

"For a limited time only!"

Jack was asleep.

He dreamed about seagulls.

Rumble-and-a-roar.

Ding, ding.

Tell me what you think here.