Jay's Story Part I
It was a dark dreary day as the scuba diver named Bryant began to find his way in the deep murky waters. As he was descending a hammerhead shark came out of no where and took his arm off. As Bryant was bleeding and frantically swimming for his life a speedboat came by and the propeller cut a gash in his head. Upon seeing all this the pelican sitting on the piling flew out to meet him and began pecking on the top of his head as if he were a fish or something. Then without warning, as if everything else that happened to him had a warning label, his diving mask fogged up. By this time, he was pissed and began to search for the little vial of arsenic that he kept in case something like this ever happened to him. Realizing that he had left it on shore, he began to panic. "Why didn't I listen to my mother?" he said as he remembered her words, "Diving is dangerous Bryant, you could have your arm bitten off by a hammerhead shark and have your head pecked by a pelican too." Mom was always right. Dragging his body onto the sandy beach with his right arm, he looked up and saw a carload of kid’s drive up. As they stared at him lying in the surf, he hollered to them, "Do any of you guys know first aid?" The fat one, known only as Lloyd, yelled back, "No, but we did stay at a Holiday Inn last night." Getting back into the car, they chuckled, and drove away. As he began pulling himself inch by inch up the embankment he realized it was beginning to get dark. He was afraid that the rats would come out of the grass after him when it got dark. Bryant finally made it to the top of the embankment and began crawling toward a light he saw. The light seemed to be moving toward him fast. It was then that he realized he was crawling down the middle of a road. It was about this time that the eighteen wheeler ran over his legs. The pain was tremendous but as he was bouncing down the highway he really did not have time to think of the pain. Then suddenly he felt himself falling, falling, falling then splash, he hit the water. The truck had knocked him back into the cold murky water. So here he was with only one arm, a gash in his head and two broken legs slowly drifting to the bottom of the ocean. It was then that a fisherman, we'll call him Jay cast his line into the ocean and as he was winding it in his hook snagged the dying man’s shirt. Jay was ecstatic because he had hooked something big, possibly the catch of his life. He started yelling "I got me a big un" and all the wino’s that were standing around began cheering "wind it in Jay wind it in". As Jay was winding the line in Bryant, which Jay had unknowingly hooked had drowned. The crowd began to get larger as the wino’s cheered him on. Jay was beside himself with excitement because it was taking all his strength to wind the catch in. Just as Jay finally got what he thought was a fish to the surface the line snapped, Jay without even hesitating dove from the pier with his fillet knife out and grabbed what he thought was a fish and began stabbing it, this was one catch he would not loose. As he dragged the catch to the shore close to a floodlight, it was then that Jay realized it was a man he had caught. Not realizing that the man was already dead the wino’s cheers turned to screams "Jay, you killed him, you killed him". It was at this time that the police car drove up and the officers were told what had happened. Jay was immediately arrested and charged with first-degree murder and fishing without a license. Later that year he escaped from prison using a toothbrush and dental floss, he is currently on the run, looking for someone with the truth, someone that can clear his name, someone to help him get out of the Twilight Zone.

This story is based on many non-truths and impossibilities. However the next time you hook the catch of your life remember, it could be a trophy catch or it could wind you up in unexpected trouble and transform you into the Twilight Zone. This is Jay’s story.

Jay's Story Part II - The Speedboat Driver's Confession
                                   by John Nicklason

I am the speedboat driver – this is my story.

It was a cold and murky day. I only took the boat out that day to search for my pet pelican Petey, who had been missing for several days. So, there I was, racing along, heedless of the warning on the boat’s windshield: ‘WARNING! Windshield may fog in cold weather’. I was trying to wipe the fog from the windshield when I spotted Petey on a piling. Then, as I was looking and smiling at Petey, I thought I saw a hammerhead shark swim by with an arm in its mouth. I shook my head, not believing what I had seen, when BLAM! the boat hit something. "What was that?" I asked myself, and circled around to check it out.
    As I came back around, I saw a one-armed diver with a gash in his head (obviously caused by my boat’s propeller). "No, Petey, no!" I cried as Petey swooped down on the diver’s gashed head and started pecking it like it was a fish or something
    I thought the guy was dead! Oh, why didn’t I listen to my father? He tried telling me speedboats could be dangerous – one day I might run over a swimmer who was unable to get out of the way because his arm might have been bitten off by a shark! Dad was always right.
    Then, as Petey flew to me and landed gracefully in my boat, I saw the guy wasn’t dead after all. He began to try to swim toward shore. Satisfied that the man would probably make it to shore and would be okay, I opened the bottle of MadDog 20/20 that I had on the boat, took a drink, then sped away.
    Upon reaching the dock, I realized I had locked my keys in my car. Petey and I sat around and finished my bottle, then Petey flew off again. I was ready to get home, since I was still feeling a bit shaky. I hitched a ride in an 18 wheeler.
    The driver of the 18-wheeler was a nice guy, but I noticed he had a bad habit of looking at me (and not the road) whenever he talked. That was making me a little nervous, but everything was going ok when suddenly THUMP! The truck had hit something! The driver started freaking out, saying "I hit someone, I hit someone" over and over. He started to speed away, but before he got very far, I convinced him to pull over and let me out. As I was climbing down out of the cab, I said to him, "I thought you were a professional driver", to which he said, "No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night."
    It was dark by this time. I started walking back to the dock, and stopped in at a little bar on the way (for another bottle). When I walked back outside, I saw a crowd of winos standing around a fisherman. They were chanting, "Wind it in, wind it in" over and over. I walked over to check out what was happening, and ended up joining in the chant. We watched as the lone fisherman fought to bring in his ‘big un’. The line suddenly snapped! The fisherman, obviously not wanting to let that big fish get away, dove into the water with his fillet knife and started stabbing away. Then he started hauling the fish back to shore.
    The crowd watched as he brought the ‘fish’ to shore, close to a floodlight. Imagine my horror as the ‘big fish’ I thought I would see became a man! But not just any man – a diver with one arm and a gash in his head.
    No! I thought – but it was! Now, though I knew the truth, I began to chant along with the rest of the crowd "Jay, you killed him!" At about this time, the police arrived and I told them what had happened.
    I have been trying to live with this nightmare for long enough – I can’t take it anymore – I have to tell the truth!
    Jay, if you read this, I’m sorry. I’m sending a copy of this letter to the police, the FBI, and the Bureau of Marine Resources, hoping that this will exonerate you. Of course, I don’t know whether you had a fishing license or not, but if you didn’t, they might go easy on you. Hopefully, this confession will give you back your freedom.