The Fifth Entry / Lander Texas

Lander is a quiet little town. We're in the Hill Country, a little northwest of San Antonio and a little more south-west of Austin. We have a nice little creek running through town, but not a river like so many other little hill country towns. As a result of that we have no real swimming holes. There's no tubing. Our tourist trade is mostly the antique and gift shops downtown. There are four or five bed and breakfast homes in the area. Our only other claim to fame is the dinosaur park (if you can call it that) just north of town right off hwy 33, and that's really just some fossilized footprints in a fossilized river bed. The footprints are still there, guess they will be for a while, but the park part fell into ruin years ago. It was never much to speak of anyway, just some swings and a slide, some picnic tables - the usual.
Things tend stay rather quiet around here. That suits everybody just fine.

The Forth Entry / I Heard it on the News

I heard this on the local “news” radio channel – the same one that carries Rush Limbaugh and Hannity – and I didn’t think too much about it at first. Then I got to thinking about it. Anyway, it seems there was an old lady went missing in Austin and they had put out an Amber alert. They think she just wandered away and got confused, couldn’t find her way back home. She was on medication and it was important that they find her soon, so if anyone had any information etcetera. But what stuck in my mind was something a relative said in a sound byte, sort of off handedly, kind of in the background. She said, “…need to find her pretty soon, don’t want her to die again…”. Okay. Maybe she had had a close call. Maybe she had even been revived. Or maybe she had died. Maybe she was dead. I mean out there walking dead. Nah. But I would like to hear how this story turns out.

The Third Entry / Danny

I heard this story from Oscar Flores, whose son is on the football team and witnessed the incident that I am about to explain. Oscar runs the Shell station on fifth street. I've known him for years. Probably most of the permanent residents of our little town have known him for years. Jimmy, his son, was at football practice last Thursday. It seems they had had a fairly intense workout, outside in the heat, when someone threw a line drive pass at Danny Osmud. Danny didn't see it and it hit him right square in the chest and I remember hearing a report about this on NPR radio a few years ago, about the disproportionate number of deaths of young male athletes and two things they all had in common were a intense workouts followed by a sudden, hard blow to the chest. Danny hit the ground. 'He's not breathing!' someone said. Well, a panic ensued and Jimmy ran to get the defibrillator and when he got back Danny was sitting up like nothing had happened. He said he was okay, just felt kind of funny. And he looked kind of funny, too. The coach tried to feel his pulse but couldn't find it. School hasn't started yet, so there's no school nurse and of course the clinic was locked. The coach had him call his parents and tell them to meet him at the hospital - the coach was taking him to the emergency room. Then Oscar said that his boy noticed something real odd. From the time Danny came to until he left with the coach, which about ten minutes, Danny never blinked. Not once. Oscar asked me if I thought this could be a sign of shock. I said yes, I think so. I have no idea.

The Second Entry

About two months ago, on a Saturday morning, I was walking out to get the newspaper at the end of the driveway. Always at the end of the driveway, sometimes halfway into the street. I think my paperboy is anemic. I look around and there's Bill. He's standing in the middle of the street in front of his house, still in his pajamas and man, does he look wasted. He's facing slightly away from me so I don't get a good look at his face, but he appears to have lost a lot more weight. His pjs are just hanging. So is his jaw. I'm thinking that he shouldn't be out there and whoever is taking care of him doesn't know. I'm not sure what to do, but he seems okay, then he turns and starts to walk back up his driveway. It's a very strange walk, almost like he has forgotten exactly how it's done. He brings his right knee up, almost waist high, then lets it fall. The next step is made by dragging his left foot forward. "Bill?" I hear Charlie calling. Then she comes running out to him, takes him by the arm and starts leading him back into the house. All the while she keeps looking around to see if anyone is watching. She spots me of course and makes a shoulder shrugging motion as if to say 'Kids.' I shrug back and pick my newspaper up. I'm thinking, gee - I thought he would have been dead by now. Thinking back I hear a little voice saying 'Maybe he was'.

The First Entry

I know this sounds silly but I'm starting to think one of my neighbors is a zombie. Or at least he is on his way to becoming one. His name is Bill something.
About six months ago I got into a conversation with him in the driveway. He actually lives (or not) two houses down but we've talked many times over the past few years. I mentioned he had lost some weight, intending it as a compliment. I hadn't noticed how his eyes looked a little hollow or his stance a little off balance. He told me was undergoing chemotherapy. He was also bald and I hadn't noticed because he was wearing a cap. I think I said something like Wow. I'm sorry. I didn't know. So what's the next step? There isn't one, he said. Just wait. That's a bummer, man. He said yeah he knew. So then we started talking about the National Health Bill or something.
I didn't see him again for a couple of months and then it was only in passing. He was wobbling out to the passenger side of his car. His wife, Charlie I think, was holding onto him. He had a cane, too. I was mowing and I sort of waved and he nodded back. Charlie didn't look up. I thought about him a lot for a few days. Then I didn't so much. Then I didn't at all. Then the ambulance brought him home. My neighbor across the street told my wife about it and she told me. They both concluded he wanted to die at home. I think he did - die at home, that is.