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failed to respond to his provocations, he leaned over to me—sliding a bunch of documents under my nose.
    “Date and sign here,” the detective prompted, offering me his ballpoint.
    I admired the pen for a moment—its metallic edge. Sharp. Lethal in the right hands.
    “Just sign the papers, will ya?”
    When his eyes wandered, the killing urge invaded my limbs and I exploded like an alligator—jabbing the pen into his thick neck. I hit the jackpot and blood sprayed on my face, table and walls. Bathed in blood like
Carrie
in that legendary scene, where the bucket of pig's blood pours over her head—I watched the fat piece of shit die.
    Ecstasy rushed through me as he choked on his own vomit, very much like Eden. Our eyes met. “I warned you there'd be others! You should've listened, pig!” I screamed. Slipping the gun out of his holster, I circled him like a starving coyote.
    “Since you lacked courage to shoot me yourself when I asked you to, I guess I will have to do it myself! We must cleanse the Earth …” I proclaimed, pulling the trigger.

Akona
    “What have you done with my baby?” she yelled. Her spittle flew and crash-landed on my cheek. Reflex made me blink while little balls of tears formed in Amber's eyes.
    “I don't know. She was there one minute and gone the next,” I replied with my palms raised as if she held me at gunpoint. My neck burned from the intense Peruvian sun as Amber continued to verbally assault me.
    “How could you leave her? She's just a toddler!”
    “I was right there behind that tree,” I pointed at one of many Palmettos in the area. “And I needed a wee so badly!” A pathetic attempt at defending myself, I know.
    We had met at Greenwich University and dated for three months. Amber had a baby daughter, Akona, from a previous relationship. I hated kids and knew nothing about them. I didn't want to learn either.
    She invited me to Peru as a part of her Conservation & Biodiversity study. We decided to turn it into a mini holiday, taking Akona with us. It was Amber's idea, by the way, not mine.
    “You irresponsible bastard, I should've never trusted you with her!”
    Amber had been out on a lecture that morning so we scheduled a picnic for that same afternoon. I got the basket ready and she agreed to meet us by the Ucayali River. I had unrolled a little blanket on a small patch of clean grass and left Akona to play on it – only for a few minutes - as I relieved myself nearby. It never occurred to me that something dangerous might happen to her.
    Was she snatched by someone?
    We were surrounded by a tribe of simpletons…why would they take her? Shit, maybe they were a cannibalistic tribe.
    “She probably just crawled off,” I weakly offered. Amber stared at me with her mouth hanging open.
    “Don't worry. I'll find her. I'm sure she's around here somewhere,” I said.
    “Akona! Akona!” I called out, half-expecting her to emerge from the bushes wagging her butt with a stick in her mouth.
    I dived into the nearest bush, frantically searching for the baby girl. Nothing. I plunged into the next one but again, found nothing.
    I heard soft rustling behind me.
    “Amber! She's here behind these plants,” I celebrated prematurely.
    I spread the leaves apart and tripped over something, landing face first into the bush. Then I gasped. The head of an enormous
Eunectes Murinus
or the green Anaconda as it's more commonly known, was staring right at me. I must've tripped over its body.
    It was huge! But that's not what shocked me. The reptile was in the middle of devouring Akona; only her tiny feet could be seen dangling from its unhinged jaw. We both screamed.

The Green Tide
    The tide was low when we arrived at the beach. A stretch of sand like no other we'd visited before—this one was special. The things that lived here were special. That's why I brought her here, my French girlfriend, Cerise. For years, she pestered me about visiting France and meeting her parents. We dated for