rake up some real terror

Looking straight into the lightly fogged bathroom mirror, he palms some water and spreads it on his hair, taming rebel strands, until it's as smooth as the bottom of the ocean.

"Today will be different," he thinks. "My life's been so so good, so so prosperous. It's time I do some bad, sour things a little."

His house is immaculate and expensively furnished, his cuff unfrayed.

But...
- Cowboy
- Pirate
- Someone who looted banks at gunpoint
- Distiller of bathtub gin

Those boyish fantasies and fascinations, he's been each of them. It may have been in separate lives or maybe he was all four at once. Whatever the case, he's been them all.

But in this life, he works in insurance and he's running late.

He'll mentally rehearse his wickedness during today's meetings and commute both ways. And when he gets home, if he's not too beat (he has to be honest with himself), he'll rake up some real terror. Really, fully, and completely this time. He'll haunt the ghost.