First Night

by Jeanne Ryan

Four AM. I am suddenly awake—about to be sick from the sleep medications they gave me. I jump out of bed, my blood pressure plummeting. My head spins. Stumbling out of my room, I find the nurse halfway up the hall.

“I’m going to throw up,” I spit out.

“Let’s get you to a bathroom.” he says.

But we don’t get that far.

I am vomiting. And vomiting. Before I feel myself sliding down the nearest wall. I come to a stop when my head lands on the tile floor.

Welcome to your first night on West 5.

Photo by Cory Mogk on Unsplash

Another Night Life

by William Grussenmeyer

“Work all night?” I asked into the phone.

“Until six am,” Amos said.”

“At that sewage facility?”

“Yep. Still here. Gotta keep the homeless out.”

“Out of a sewage place?”

“They steal anything they can. Or sleep inside.

There’s an encampment right outside.” He paused for a few seconds. “I gotta watch out for the serial killer too.”

“Did you say serial killer?”

“Some guy going around killing homeless people.
They know who he is. Can’t find him. Cause he’s homeless, too.”

“I haven’t seen anything on the news?” I asked.

“News don’t care,” Amos said.

Photo by Tommy van Kessel on Unsplash