Here's a Quarter by Fear359 (f/m, qs, grim) It has been said that love is trusting, love is pure, and love is everlasting. Well I'm here to tell you that love is a bitch and this is my story, and this is how it ended! * "Ricky, please help me! I'm sinking in this stuff, and I can't get out!" "Well, ain't that to damn bad, Amy! First you shoot me, and then, when you find out I'm not dead, you try and take a short cut back to the house, and you fall into quicksand. And now you want my help getting out." "Quicksand? God, no! Ricky, you've got to help me! You can't just let me sink! Please, I love you!" "You love my money, that's all you love, and that's all you ever wanted. So I tell you what I'm gonna do: Here, there's a quarter. Now call someone who cares!" "Ricky, please help - gulpppppp!" Now I know that some of you people are asking yourselves, "What in the world is his problem? Why would he let her sink in quicksand?" Well, if you just hold your horses I'll tell you. It started about nine months ago. "Oh, Ricky, I love you so much. I would do anything for you. I want to marry you." "Amy, don't you think that we are moving a bit fast here? I mean, I care about you, and I want to spend more time with you. But I think that talking about marriage right now is a little early, don't you think?" "Ricky, I want to be with you and only you! And I want to marry you now! Don't we have a good time together? Don't we make a great couple? Don't you love me?" "Come on Amy, you know I love you. And yes, I think that we make a great couple. And yes, the time we spend together is great. But marriage is a really big step, one I want to be sure that we are both ready for." "What's the matter, sweetheart? Are you afraid to make that big step?" "No Amy, I'm not afraid of that step. Like I said, I just want to be sure that we are doing the right thing, that's all." Well, Amy kept hounding me to get married, and I really wanted to. I just had to be sure of what I was feeling. Anyway, 2 weeks later I asked Amy to marry me, and she said 'yes'. 1 month after that we were married, and things were good. My acting career was taking off, and I was getting more and more roles offered to me. There was one that I was offered that really caught my eye, and it was a Sci-Fic-Horror type movie. You know the kind where people hear a bump in the night, and they go out to check it out, and never come back? Yeah, those. Anyway, I was offered a lot of money to do it, so I took it, and not because of the money. Amy didn't like the fact that I was gone so much, but she did like the money. In fact, when I called her she was almost never home, and the times that I did get a hold of her, all we did was fight, which in turn made me a little (I mean a lot) pissed off. But I thought to myself that maybe I was being too hard on her, because I was the one who was gone a lot, and she was at home by herself. Well, we finished the movie, and when I got home things went from bad to worse. It seemed like all we would do was fight. And then I got another movie role and jumped at it, just to get out of the house. Well, my new role: I was playing a game warden working with the DEA looking for drug runners in a swamp. No big deal since I was living in Florida and lived four miles from a swamp. I thought that it would be great. We started shooting the movie early, and I had asked Amy to come to the set, but she said 'no'. So once again I was alone, and so was she. We got about half way though the movie, and the director decided that we all needed a break. So we took 5 days off, and I jumped in my truck and drove 3 hours to get home. When I got home I found out that Amy was nowhere to be found, so I figured that she was out spending more money. So after about an hour of waiting I decided to take a walk to think about what I was going to do about this marriage I was in. Because, to tell you the truth, it was not going the way that I wanted it to. I changed my clothes since I left the set still in my game warden outfit. I changed into an old pair of jeans, some boots and my Austin 3:16 T-Shirt. After I changed I started for the door, and for some strange reason I left Amy a note that I was home for 5 days, and that maybe we could do something together, and that I was going to take a walk down highway 81 towards the swamp, and that she, if she got home in the next hour or so, could find me. I started my walk and found it good to be home, the fresh air, the openness of the land - for the first time in a long time I was happy. As I walked along the highway I didn't see many cars on the road, which was fine by me. I really wanted to just walk and be by myself for a while. I don't know when Amy got home, and I don't know why she did what she did. All I know is: That bitch tried to kill me for money, my money, that I was busting my ass to make for us! Anyway, I got to the edge of the swamp, and walked down to the dock, and sat there. I don't know how long I was in my daydream of the perfect life, but I do remember hearing a click. It almost sounded like a gun, and when I turned around there was Amy standing there with a gun in her hand pointing it at me. "Amy, what the hell are you doing with that gun, and why are you pointing it at me?" "You know why, Ricky. I'm going to kill you!" "Amy, why? What did I do to you?" "You have done nothing to me, but make me rich, that's all. And that's why I'm gonna kill you. You see, if you die now, then I get the life insurance policy, the money from the movie and everything else." "So you're just gonna shoot me right here?" "Don't be so stupid, Ricky. I am gonna take you back in the swamp about a mile and kill you then. I'm gonna throw your sorry ass in the water, and let an alligator tear you apart. It was nice of you to leave this gun on the floor with the rest of your stuff. This way I don't have to go out and buy one. Now get up and get moving!" Don't ask me why I got up and started moving for the deeper part of the swamp. But seeing that gun in Amy's hand kind of scared me, because she had a look in her eyes that she meant every word she had said. So I thought that I would do what she said for now. We walked for what seemed like hours, but it was only about 30 minutes. The trail we were on was thick with fallen branches and tall grass. I could hear the river up in the distance, and I knew that if I didn't do something quick, I was gonna end up dead. The trail went straight for about 20 yards then it spilt into three trails. So when we got to the spilt I stopped. "Amy, which way do we go? There are three trails. Which one do you want me do go down?" "Go down, go down ... Shit! I can't remember which one leads to the river!" Now was my chance. Amy was only about 3 yards behind me, and I don't think that she really expected me to try anything. But I thought, that if I'm gonna die than I am going out swinging. So on that note I made my move. I jumped back and knocked Amy down. And when she hit the ground the gun flew out of her hands. She hit with a dull thud, and I was gone down the trail to the right. "Ricky, you son of a bitch! When I catch up to you you're dead! Do you hear me? You're dead!" I didn't even answer her I just kept running. I could hear Amy's footsteps on my trail. I had to find somewhere to hide until I could think of something to do. The swamp was getting more and more dense, and I now had my chance. There was some tall grass on both sides of the trail and a small stream up ahead. So instead of going into the stream I stopped just shy of it, and then I jumped into the high grass where I waited for Amy (my loving Wife). "Ricky, you know that I can catch you anytime I wanted to! You forget that I run everyday, and I can run forever if I have to. You can run, but you'll never get away!" As I sat in the grass and waited I heard Amy run by me at full speed and heard her come to a stop, and then she started screaming at the top of her lungs. "Ricky! You think just because you crossed this little stream that I won't find you? Well, you're wrong, Ricky, dead wrong! I know where you are going, and I'll beat you there, so watch your back, Ricky!" And with that Amy took off back up the trail, and I didn't really think that she was gone so I waited for about 10 minutes. And when I thought that it was safe to come out I slowly came out of my hiding place. Amy was really gone, and I had to come up with a plan to get home and fast. It had been a while since I had been in the swamp, and I was trying to remember the fastest way to get home. I couldn't remember, so I decided to go back the way I had come, and see if I could pick up Amy's trail. It wasn't hard to find it. Hell, a blind man could have found it! So I very carefully made my way down the trail, and I could see Amy about 150 to 200 yards ahead. And even if I couldn't see her I heard her. She was making enough noise to wake the dead! Anyway, somehow I had to catch up to her without her seeing me. So I picked up some rocks and started throwing them over by the riverbank, hoping that she would hear them and go over there and investigate. Boom! The rock hit the water, and Amy turned her head in that direction. "Ah, Ricky! I told you that I would catch up to you. And now you're gonna die!" With that said Amy took off for the riverbank. I waited until I saw her down by the bank, and I made my move. I got as low as I could and took off down the trail. I looked to my right and saw Amy standing by the bank. And then I stood up and yelled, "Hey, you stupid bitch! I'm over here, and you ain't gonna catch me!" "Oh, really? That's what you think? You're dead!" I took off running, and I heard a gunshot, so I hit the ground. Then I got back up and started running again, I came to another fork and took the left one, with Amy about 50 yards behind me and closing the gap fast. Then I heard a loud bang, and I fell to the ground, and the next thing I saw was Amy's face smiling at me. "You see dear, I told you that you couldn't get away, and that I was going to kill you!" "Amy, please don't! I love you!" "Well. I don't love you Ricky. All I love is money, and now that I have it, I don't need you." I moved my body towards the side of the trail, and Amy moved to the other side of the trail keeping her distance from me. Then she pulled the hammer back, smiled, and pulled the trigger. Once again I heard a loud bang. "Thanks for the money, Ricky! I will spend it wisely! Hahahahahaha!" "I don't think so Amy. In fact, you won't be spending any of it!" I had stood up looking at Amy just looking at me, wondering how I could have taken two bullets from a gun, and still be alive. As I made my way toward her, she screamed and jumped off the trail and started running. I was in hot pursuit trying to catch her, but like Amy said earlier she runs everyday and is very fast. The ground we were running on was pretty firm, but as she turned left to get back to the trail, I slowed down, because all that running around had taken it's toll on me. "Amy, slow down! Stop! You don't know where you are going, and I'm too damn tired to chase you!" Amy had gone over the edge. Money had made her crazy, and I couldn't stop her or save her from her fate. As she came upon a small trail Amy saw what she was looking for: the three way fork in the road. All she had to do was hit the middle trail, and she would be home in no time. There was some grass about knee high in front of her, so she couldn't see where she was going or what she was walking into. As I came around trees I saw her and told her to stop. Amy just turned around and started running. I would have to guess that she got four maybe five steps before she realized what had happened. When she looked down she saw that her feet were being swallowed by some kind of mud, and when she tried to lift her right foot her left foot sank deeper. Then she tried to pump her legs up and down to break the mud's hold on her, but all that did was drive her down deeper. As I walked up to the knee high grass Amy was still trying to free herself. "Ricky, please help me! I'm sinking in this stuff, and I can't get out!" "Well, ain't that to damn bad, Amy! First you shoot me, and then, when you find out I'm not dead, you try and take a short cut back to the house, and you fall into quicksand. And now you want my help getting out." "Quicksand? God, no! Ricky, you've got to help me! You can't just let me sink! Please, I love you!" "You love my money, that's all you love, and that's all you ever wanted. So I tell you what I'm gonna do: Here, there's a quarter. Now call someone who cares!" "Ricky, please! You have to help! I can't get out, and this stuff is sticky and sucking me down! Please, help me! Ricky, please help - gulpppppppp!" I just stood there and watched Amy sink to her death in the quicksand. Not that I'm a psycho or anything. I thought that it was cool to think she wanted to kill me for money. Oh, by the way, I know you are all wondering why I'm not dead, right? Well, the gun it was a real gun, but one difference: it had blanks in it! Hey, so much for real love!