[ WP ] An endless staircase .

Plodding up and up and up. 
 
 Every night I take the stairs. From when I enter the door, wife screaming, kids crying, dog barking, to when I take my first step. 
 
 It's carpeted and maybe that should make it more welcoming, but all it does is keep in the stains. The stairs stretch wide across in my view, blurry and grey. It's almost like... Like they're moving, getting longer, multiplying. 
 
 Another step, and I see a lady. Her face is indistinct but when I squint, I can make out dirty blond hair, and smoker's breath. Ah. It's Lauren. As I watch, she peels off her face and disappears. 
 
 It's happening again, is n't it. Or rather - it's already happened. I shake my head. 
 
 Time for another step. 
 
 My right foot seems to blend into the carpeted step, stuck. I blink slowly and try to get free. With a shake, I stumble forward on the steps. 
 
 ``.... Daddy?'' 
 
 I look up. It's Karen. She's sucking on her thumb, a habit that formed in the crib and one she never let go of. 
 
 `` Mommy is crying again.'' 
 
 I want to say something, that it'll be okay, but my tongue is leaden and mouth glued shut. Before I mumble a reassurance, Bobby forms by his sister. 
 
 `` Dad, Rufus needs more dog food. Can you pick some up tomorrow?'' 
 
 I want to say that I ca n't, that there's not enough gas to get to work and the store, that I do n't want to rack up more debt than I have to. He'd understand. My son's a good kid. 
 
 Before I say a thing, they disappear. Both of them. 
 
 I blink, and Rufus is at my side, tail tucked in, eyes wide. He's begging for something, but what? I reach down to pet him, but he shrinks away. I frown and bend lower, but that only makes him shape his teeth into a snarl. 
 
 I stumble back and lose my balance. Down and down and down, and just as I'm about to hit the bottom of the stairs - 
 
 I wake up. The alarm clock shows 7:00, and I reach over to end it's incessant chime. A puddle of booze and sweat squishes underneath, and I turn to wake up my wife. Empty, of course. 
 
 Time to get up and wake the kids, then go down the stairs. Then up, after a day at work. Then down, after a night of nothing. Then up. Then down. 
 
 Then up. Then down. 
 
 It'll never end. 
 
 Never.
