Ray approaches worriedly

Ray Parker sat in the driver's seat of the family minivan and strummed his fingers on the vinyl-coated steering wheel as he looked at the dark and quiet split-level ranch house before him. He debated whether he should go in as dusk settled over his quiet neighborhood.

The father of four felt increasingly guilty about the events that occurred the last few hours at his self-owned company, especially now that it looked as if his wife might know. The house looked dark, no televisions flashing their colors on the walls of most every room, no stereos blasting pop, ****-metal or hip-hop, depending on which daughter's window was open. There were also no bicycles to trip over on the winding concrete walk. There was no annoyed phone call, or page, from his wife wondering how long she should hold dinner, blah, blah, blah. . the usual routine. It was all very disconcerting to the frazzled company president.

Ray was able to discern, though, even in the fading light , that the aging white sedan his wife drove early in the day to her nursing position was sitting in the garage before him. He could see the roof through the four large windows in the top third of the garage's door. Ray breathed a sigh of relief at that.

'Though she could've felt too distraught to drive upon finding out about his dalliances, and called one of her friends to take her and the kids in,' Ray pondered as he finally got out of the van, pulling his omnipresent briefcase along with him.

'I guess there's only one way to find out!' Ray thought to himself as he fumbled with the key ring he had pulled out of the ignition, locked the van with an audible 'chirp' sounding and sorted out the key to the front door as he headed up the walk to the front porch.

Ray Parker twisted the key and turned the brass knob of the door, pushing the heavy white door open. He breathed a silent sigh of relief that the locks hadn't been changed.

Entering the foyer, stepping into the spacious living room, the loving father of four encountered the same eerie sense of quiet he felt sitting in his driveway. No angelic faces running to greet him, to complain about what this sister or that sister did that day. Plenty of light still filtered into the living room via the large picture windows, but it was unusual not to have something lit, with one of the older girls curled up in a chair doing her homework as MTV blared from the family television.

Ray paused near the staircase to the bedrooms, noticing some flickering light at the top of the flight, where the stairwell darkened. The worried husband set his briefcase down at the umbrella stand at the base of the stairs and quietly worked his way up the stairs, expecting the wrath of his wife to descend upon him at any second.

As he ascended the stairs, Ray couldn't help but notice the individual pictures of his family that hung along the staircase wall. Each of his blonde-haired progeny smiled back at him guilelessly, making him hang his head lower as he thought again about the wanton debauchery he had participated in today at work. He dared not even glance at the photo of his still-beautiful wife of twenty years, feeling ever shameful of his actions as his libido subsided.

He glanced again up the stairs. Light seemed to flicker ever brighter from the master bedroom as he neared it. Ray called ahead.

"Gee, honey, what happened? I'm sure I paid the light bill on time!"

No answer.

'Or at least I think I did,' he thought to himself, trying to remember the mountain of bills he waded through earlier this month.

Quiet.

'Jeez', he thought, 'if she's there she must be pissed.'

Ray stepped onto the landing and headed to the doorway of the master bedroom.