Our Greatest Fears

www.AntonioGarciaBooks.com

“Come on in!” Jacob shouted when the doorbell rang.

“Who is it?” Samantha asked him.

“Ted,” he replied.

“Crap,” Samantha said disappointed. “I was hoping it was John. He’s coming with the pizza.”

Jacob chuckled and said, “He should be here any minute.”

And like he predicted, walking up the steps right behind Ted was John with the pizza in hand.

It had been a while since they all had been able to hang out. As they got older, their schedules seemed to get busier, but Jacob insisted that they get together, and everyone made it work.

It wasn’t long before they were all feeling pretty inebriated. They had spent the evening catching up on everything that had been going on in their lives and playing board games, adding rules that led to shots to make the games more fun.

They decided to finish the late night with a Final Destination movie.
When it was over, Jacob asked, “What’s you guys biggest fear. You know, the worst final moments you could find yourself in.”

For most of them, it was obvious, so they just spit out their answers.

“Being buried alive,” Samantha started. “I’d hate for everyone to think I’m dead, and then bury me, only for me to wake up and be trapped six feet under.”

She shivered at the thought.

“For me,” John started. “It would be the fear of my parachute not opening. I mean, I triple check my chute every time, but when I jump out of a plane, it’s the only thing on my mind.”

“Then why do you do it?” Samantha asked, half-joking.

“Because I love being a skydiver, and I feel like I’m conquering my fears every time I jump,” he said sincerely, and took a swig of his beer.

“When I was a kid, we were in line at a light when the railroad gates came down in front and behind us,” Ted explained. “We weren’t in any real danger, and we just drove off to the side, but ever since then, I’ve always been afraid of breaking down while crossing the tracks and being hit by a train.”

“How about you, Jacob?” Samantha asked.

“I’d have to say my biggest fear is of dying alone,” he said. “Whether it be a car accident, heart attack, or even old age, my biggest fear is that when the time comes, I’d be alone.”

Not wanting to give into the somber tone their get-together had taken, John changed the subject to Favorite Songs to have sex to and they were all soon laughing again.

By the early hours, everyone had passed out. When they all woke up, they said their goodbyes and promised to do it again soon.


“Hey, John!” his co-worker said as he walked through the door.

“Hey, Michael,” John replied. “How are the skies looking today?”

“Perfect,” Michel answered.

Wearing a broad smile, John once again checked his parachute, and then went to the bathroom to relieve himself before they jumped in the plane for their first jump. He hated being up in the sky and realizing he had to pee.

Once they were up in the air, John sat back and enjoyed the wind blowing loudly outside. He and the other parachute instructors always like to get their own jumps in before they met with clients.

When they reached their height, they slid the door open and one by one they jumped out.

The freefall was one of John’s favorite parts. Even though it only lasted thirty to forty-five seconds, he liked the wind blowing through his hair.

The glide down after the parachute was pulled was nice, but nothing beat the rush of falling down at the extreme speed.

Almost in unison, all them pulled their ripcords and their parachutes opened. All of them, except for John’s.

His parachute flew out of his pack, but instead of opening up, it blew away.

Only slightly panicked, John pulled the cord for his second safety parachute.

Like his main one, it also quickly flew away.

All the other instructors could only look on in horror as they watched John’s body fall to the earth and hit the ground.

By the time they all landed, the ambulance was already onsite, and they were trying to revive him, but everyone knew he was gone.


Samantha broke down in tears when she got the call from Ted. The next thing she could remember she was standing at the funeral with Ted and Jacob on either side of her with their arms around her.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” she said when as they drank beer at a local bar after the service.

“I can’t believe he died the way he was most afraid of,” Ted said.

“To John,” Jacob toasted, raising his glass in the air.

They hugged and went their separate ways.


A few days later, Samantha sat comfortably on the couch, sipping on a glass of wine. The loss of her long-time friend still weighed heavily on her.

She jumped a little when a knock came from the front door.

After putting her glass down, she wrapped her sweater around herself and casually went to see who it was.

When she opened the door, she smiled.

Suddenly, her smiled faded and horror filled her eyes.


She was sure her eyes were open, but it was still pitch black.

Panic settled in when she tried to move around and immediately could tell she was in a box of some sort.

Trying not to hyperventilate, she tried to control her breathing.

Once she had brought her breathing to normal, she began to feel around, hoping to feel exactly where she was.

She jumped a little when her hand came across something laying next to her. It was small and metal. After picking it up, she quickly realized it was a lighter.

The box she was in lit up. Her eyes widened and her heart began to race when she realized that she was laying in a simple wooden coffin. Luckily, there was no fabric to start on fire from the lighter, and she was sure the lighter wasn’t enough to make the wood burn.

She pushed on the box, hoping she could open it, but it barely budged.

She coughed when dirt came in through the open crack. She let the door crash back down, now knowing that she was underground.

None of her screams escaped the ground where she was buried six feet down. She was still screaming as she ran out of air.

First the lighter went out bringing the box into darkness, and then she lost consciousness as the rest of her world became nothing but darkness too.

Outside, the moon was the only witness to her death.


“Have you heard from Samantha?” Jacob asked Ted.

“Not since the funeral, why?” Ted said. “I just figured she needed some time to mourn alone.”

“I was worried about her, so I had made plans to meet up with her today,” Jacob said. “But she never showed. I tried calling her, but it goes straight to voicemail. I was going to swing by her place, but I thought I’d call you first.”

“Huh,” Ted said into the phone. “You want me to meet you at her place?”

“I don’t want to put you out, but if you’re free, we can both check on her together.”

“Sounds good, I’ll meet you there,” Ted said and then hung up the phone.

It was getting dark when he arrived at Samantha’s and found Jacob waiting for him on the front porch.

“I just got here,” Jacob said. “I’ve rung the doorbell a couple of times, but she doesn’t appear to be home.”

They both walked to the driveway to find her car still parked there.

“We should go around the house and see if we can find a way in,” Jacob suggested. “She may be injured.”

Ted agreed and they walked together, checking the windows and doors until they found one unlocked.

They searched the entire house, but there was no sign of her.

“I think we should file a missing person’s report,” Ted suggested.

Jacob nodded and called the police.

When they arrived, Ted and Jacob were waiting for them outside. Jacob lied and told them they had a spare key and had already checked the house.

The cop took notes and said he’d be in touch.

“You want to grab a drink?” Jacob asked.

“Sure,” Ted replied.


“Dammit,” Ted said, as the gate came down, letting them know a train was coming. He rolled down the window and gave Jacob, who was behind him, a frustrated shrug.

Jacob only smiled back.

They both watched as the train came around the corner and approached the intersection.

Ted didn’t notice Jacob slowly back up.

When he did look up, his eyebrows furrowed as he wondered why Jacob had backed away.

All of a sudden, Jacob’s car shot forward, quickly picking up speed.

There was no time for Ted to react as Jacob’s car slammed into him, thrusting his car forward onto the tracks just as the train arrived.

Ted was crushed immediately. The crushing sound of his truck and the sound of the train slamming on its breaks filled the night air.

Watching the scene unfold with a smile on his face, Jacob backed up again, but this time, turned and drove away.

‘That was fast,’ Jacob thought, seeing the flashing lights of the police and EMS arriving on the scene.

He turned the radio up as he drove into the woods, following a path only he was aware of.

Arriving at the cave, he turned down the music before turning off the car.

From inside, he could hear someone crying out for help, though the voice now sounded horse from yelling for so long.

As he walked around the corner, he came upon the real Jacob chained to the wall, who went silent the moment he saw himself walking toward him.

“Hello, Jacob,” his double said, shape shifting into another man’s face.

“Who, what are you?” Jacob asked.

“I’m afraid that would take too long to explain,” the man started. “Suffice to say, I’m a genie of sorts, but instead of granting people their wishes, I make fears come true.”

“What does that mean,” Jacob said, still terrified and pulling on his chains.

“Tell me, Jacob,” the man started. “What are you most afraid of, you know, when it comes to dying.”

Unsure what to say, Jacob only stared at him.

Seeing Jacob’s reluctance, the man started by saying, “Your friend, Samantha was afraid of being buried alive. She’s probably run out of air by now.”

The man smiled at seeing Jacob slowly realize what he meant.

Before Jacob could say anything, the man continued. “John was afraid of his parachute not opening, and Ted was afraid of being hit by a train.”

“I imagine you can guess, which ones died, from fastest to slowest. Ted was quick. Wham, crushed by a train in seconds. Then there was John, who got to watch the ground quickly approach before he died. Samantha was in her box, trapped, scared, until her air finally ran out.”

Tears welled in Jacobs eyes.

To pour salt on the wound, the man continued. “And they all died thinking you killed them. Well, except for John. He just died.”

The man laughed.

“You son of a bitch,” Jacob whispered. “Why are you doing this?”

The man walked close to Jacob and whispered, “Because I can.”

He then walked away, turned, and said, “But you know what?”
Jacob only stared at him.

“Samantha actually wasn’t the slowest to die,” he said, his smile growing. “Would you like to know who really took the longest to die?”

Jacob didn’t answer. He could only look at this clearly insane man.
Realizing he was not going to get a response, but not caring the man said, “You.”

“What was your biggest fear again?” the man asked, making a fake thinking face. “Oh, that’s right. Your fear was of dying alone. Goodbye, Jacob.”

Without another word, the man turned and walked out to the sounds of Jacob screaming behind him.