I lean on my shovel, and rub the sweat from my brow.

I'm currently in a dirty pit, digging out a foundation for a house.

The Boss was too damn cheap to shell out for a Backhoe, so the crew and I were digging by hand.

It was rough work, and hard.  But it paid... decent, and The Boss gave me days off for class.

Besides, it's not that bad- working outside that is.

"Eddy!  No time for slacking, break-time ain't for another 15 minutes!"  The foreman, Mike hollared out.

"Let's go Ladies! Get the lead out! Boss wants this foundation dug out by 5 O'clock"        Mike was a hard-ass.   The man was a goddamn slave driver, but he was fair.   He was also a pretty fun guy to have a drink with.

"Aye-Aye Captain" I call out sarcastically & salute with my shovel.

I turn around and set back to work on the foundation. 

*K-shink* 

My hard, well calloused hands grip the shovel and shove it into the red clay

As my shovel sinks into the dirt, I think about how I got here: A rich trust fund kid from a wealthy family, dropped out of Harvard law just to sweat in a dirty pit.

*K-shink*

I went from penthouses & mansions to a cheap two bedroom apartment where the water tasted funny.

*K-shink*

I traded caviar for corn dogs.  I traded Harvard for Western Michigan University.  I traded Armani suits for dusty Carhartts.

I won't say that it's been easy.

It's been a little over a year and a half now, since I left my old life. 

I spent about a month just sleeping in my car, trying to find a job & a place to stay.

I hopped from shit job to shit job until I eventually found this one.     

Flipping burgers just wasn't my style...

When I first started, my hands were soft and smooth.   In the first week of working construction, my hands were bloody and blistered.  

 Now they are rough and calloused.

It's okay, the ladies seem to like rough hands anyway...

Speaking of ladies...

Its been over a year since I've seen my ex, Diana.

At first, she called often.  Practically blowing my phone up with phone calls and texts.

I ignored every one of them.  

Eventually she stopped calling.

It was right around that time that her daddy tracked me down and sent a couple goons to kick the shit out of me.

I've been beaten by my father before, so its not like its the first time ive ever taken a punch.   But this?  This was brutal.

I'd like to say I fought the good fight, but if i'm being honest with myself... I never had a chance.

The two goons ambushed me outside of my crappy new apartment.  They sucker-punched me before I could even think about doing anything.

They broke my nose, they cracked my ribs and shin bone, and battered every inch of my body.

Then one of them spat on me and said "Mr. Silverstein sends his regards"  like he was in some old gangster movie.

Fuckin cunts.

I was pissing blood for 5 days after that.

But in the end, I would take ten of those beat-downs if I knew it would free me from being married to that toxic woman.  

Women...

Sometimes I think they're more trouble than they are worth...   

That is until I met Chantelle.

I find myself smiling as I think about her while breaking my back in this pit.

She's so chill, so calm - Not cold like Diana was - just naturally relaxed.

Chantelle had an easy humor, and she could find humor in almost anything.   And she's funny. Really funny.  The girl makes me laugh every day.

She always seemed to know when I was feeling down, and was quick with a dad joke or a prank to make me smile.

She was warm.  She genuinely cares about the world and everyone she meets.

She makes me want to care too...

Also, she has an ass like a Brazilian cake factory...

"EDDY!"   

I suddenly hear a shout pulling me from my thoughts. I look up and see mike in front of me, staring down at me from above the pit.

"Ayy man, break time started 5 minutes ago"  He taps his watch.

I shove my shovel into the ground and hop out of the pit.

Only a few hours left...

***

Getting out of my beloved Thunderbird, I step over to my apartment.    The insurance wasn't too bad... I found a nice loophole where you can insure a Classic for cheap if you also have another car insured as a daily driver.  So I insured Chantelle's car, and the insurance company never needs to know that my beautiful T-Bird is my daily driver...

Trudging up the steps to my apartment - 301 - I jiggle the keys in the lock. 

Before I can even start to turn the key, the door swings open

Behind it is Chantelle wearing a beaming smile.  

Without warning, she jumps into my chest and plants a kiss on my lips.  Not expecting the human projectile, she almost knocks me over!  

With a giggle she hops off me.  "How was your day?" She asks while leading me inside.

"I WAS gonna say that it was hard, brutal and I'm tired, but somehow it doesn't seem so bad anymore..."  I say with a smile while kicking my dirty boots off at the door.

"Never-mind that!" She says while taking my arm and leading me to the kitchen.  She gestures with her hands "Okay... Sit down for this" She is clearly happy and excited about something.

Sitting down, I grumble in false annoyance "C'mon Elle... I'm pretty nasty and sweaty from work.  At least let a man get in the shower haha!"

 Looking at her, she looks positively radiant.  She wore her curly hair tied back in a cute bun today - She changed it often.   She was wearing a tight-fitting yellow sweater dress that showed off her fantastic curves - it was a little dirty from hugging me.   Her warm brown eyes were almost glowing with happiness...

"You can jump in the shower with me in a minute big guy..." She teased with a wink.   That was one of my favorite things about Chantelle, she was always ready to go...

"Ok. Okay. Okay." She makes pushing gestures with her hands  "Soooo  What’s the difference between a pregnant woman and a lightbulb?"   She looks at me with a blank face.

"Uhhh What??"   I am totally confused.

"You can un-screw a lightbulb!"   She say's with a grin.

"Okayyy?"  

"Aright" she continues, still grinning  "How do you get a nun pregnant?"   

"uhhh the same wa-  "Dress her up as an altar boy!!!"  She interrupts. 

"Hehehe  That one's actually pretty good!" I say with a laugh.   The last thing I was expecting was a comedy routine when I walked through the door.

"What do you do when your daughter, who claims she hasn’t slept with anyone, gets pregnant?" She continues rapid-fire with the jokes.

"Uhh -   "Start a religion!"

She smirks at me for a while.

"How did Burger King get Dairy Queen knocked up?"  She says with an odd emphasis...

Wait...  These jokes...

"He didn't wrap his Whopper..."   She say's with that odd emphasis again.

... She just stands there fidgeting.

'!!!'            Realization hits me like a ton of bricks

"Chantelle!  Are you...?"

"Yeah."  She says tears starting to form in her eyes.

"I'm pregnant"

...

...

My mind is reeling.  Time slows down to a crawl.

Fear and love assault me from different angles in my brain.  I feel disconnected, yet at the same time I can think & feel with crystal clarity.  In my head, all the paths I can walk stretch out before me. Uncertainty hits me in waves.

"I'm going to be a father?..."   The words come out unintentionally

Chantelle nods, choking back a sob while simultaneously smiling from ear to ear. 

The most beautiful woman in the world stands in front of me.

"I'm Going to be a Father."  The words come out stronger - more definite. They sound good.

"Yea" she says in a broken voice while nodding. Tears stream down her face as she gives a nervous laugh.

She looks happy and hopeful, yet nervous and afraid.  How I react in this moment will affect her forever.

I'm going to be a father...   I think about all the paths again in my head, and I step on the right one - It wasn't a very difficult choice.

"IM-GONNA-BE-A-DADDY!!!"  I  then do the only thing a guy should do in this situation.

I pick her up and twirl her her in my arms, kissing her over and over.

...

Finally letting her down, she looks up into my eyes with more love than I've ever received in my life.

"How long have you known!?" 

"Bout a week..." 

"Wow.  I'm impressed you managed to keep it to yourself"  I say while wrapping my arms around her and resting my hands on their rightful place: her Ass.

She was still looking right into my eyes.  "I wasn't sure.  I needed some time to deal with it..."

"How about now? Still not sure?"  I say in a low voice while rubbing my fingers up her spine.

"Dont know, maybe I need a lil more convincing..." she said with a hand undoing my belt.

She didn't need to tell me twice.

Like an excited puppy, I pull up her yellow sweater-dress like I'm peeling the worlds sexiest banana...

.....

...

.

***

I woke up to the sunlight hitting my eye and my phone buzzing.

*Yaaawwwnn*  

Holding my hand to my mouth, I let out a huge yawn.   I had barely gotten any sleep last night.

It still didn't feel real.  I was gonna be a dad...

Looking to my left, I see Chantelle sleeping on her stomach wrapped in sheets.  A brown angel with white linen wings.

She was drooling on the pillow.

Picking up the phone buzzing on the nightstand - It's Mike - I'm about two hours late for work.

"Hey Mike"  I answer the phone.

"Ayy man youre late!  Were you planning on showing up today"  Yea... he doesn't sound too happy...

"Chantelle is pregnant"  I decided to immediately bust out the big guns.

"..." 

"That's why I forgot to set my alarm last night"  When life hands you a good excuse, you gotta make use of it.

"Uhh Congrats man.  But we still need the rest of this foundation dug out before the concrete guy gets here" 

Shit. I reeeeeeaaaalllllyyy didnt want to go into work today.   I just wanted to stay in bed with my angel all day...

".....  *sigh*  O.K. I'll be there in about 20 - 25 minutes"   I hang up.

Turning back over to my girl, I kiss her on the cheek and whisper in her ear : "Hey Elle, I love you.  I gotta go to work now, but I'll be back as soon as I can.  I know you don't want to go today - you probably want to just stay in bed with me all day - but you gotta go to class okay?"

She groans, still mostly asleep  "Mmm-okayy"  

I pull away, or I would never want to leave...

Running around frantically, the next seven minutes are spent trying to throw my clothes on, find my keys & brush my teeth.

Strapping my work boots on, I rush out the door and down the stairs.

Jiggling my keys in my car door, something feels... Wrong.

Suddenly, there is a bright purple light all around me.

The light forms into a strange design. Like a satanic circle or something you would see in Doctor Strange.

Looking up then down, I see the circle has formed on the ground at my feet, and one above my head - with a wall of purple light all around. Like I was inside a cylinder of light... 

I was getting a really ominous feel from it...

I try to step out of the circle but I can't - the purple light is blocking me!

The feeling of wrongness intensifies.  

The Air starts to distort inside the circle, like heat haze on a hot day.

I needed to get out!

Using all my strength I try to bash into the purple barrier

I cant move it an inch!

Turning all around, I see a glimpse of hope. Part of my car is trapped in the Light!  If I can just open the door, maybe I could escape!

Yanking on the handle of the door - I stumble backwards with a large piece of the door in my hands - half of my car door has been sheared off by the wall of light.

It went right through my car!!!

The shimmering distortions are getting stronger, and the ominous feeling getting worse.

Terrified, I shout "HELP! ANYONE! INEEDHELP!!!"

Slowly, the distortions within the circle begin to condense around me, rooting me in place.

I can only watch in horror - unable to move an inch, as the light gets brighter and brighter...

Until all I can see around me is light...

My skin started to feel a prickling sensation... Which quickly turned into a burning sensation!

Looking down with my eyes, I see my hand form cracks and start to break away into... chunks... which start to float up to the light and disintegrate into nothing!

MY BODY IS ON FIRE

ITBURRRNNNSS

Agony doesn't even begin to describe the feeling...

Through the pain and horror, I can hear someone screaming in the distance, growing louder...

https://youtu.be/pelIVDkA0tY

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHAAAAHHHHH-

AA-AA-AA-AAAAA-A-AH-AH-AH-AHHH-AH-

The agony continues for an eternity.

I cant see anything anymore...

I can't hear anything anymore...

I only feel the PAIN

It stretches on and on...

Until - after an eon - it stops, And sweet oblivion takes me...

.....

...

.

StrongArm

  Hey all, I took a break from this one because I was a relatively new author and wanted to get some practice in before I started writing this one for real.  I liked the concept and wanted to do it justice.  I also wasn't sure which direction I should go with it at the time...   But i'm sure now!  I hope to write a story you all look foreward to :)