he woke stubbornlyout of an erotic dream to
the bingbing sound of an incoming texthe
sighed deeply leaving behind what he was
leaving behind
october was nestled between his
legsup against his groin
his girlfriend texted to say she
was up
she was notorious for sleeping
through her alarmshe was notorious for waking just before his alarms went off then he was up on his two feet
she didnt know how he did it
he told her he attributed it to
working as a paperboy for eleven yearsseven days a weekpenny a papertwo cents
on Sunday that stretch broken up only by
broken legs broken arms an broke
fingers an noses didnt cut any slack
he worked
around those
he set his alarm for her for
eightthirty
she texted at eightseventeen
if she hadnt he would probably
have awaken at eighttwenty eighttwentyfive
he turned to his right and grabbed
his cell off the nightstand an endonend woodannibbledgnawed feeding trough
he texted : Good
morning, baby! You’re out of bed?
:
im up in adam
she teased
hed said up in adam for years
rotely the words leaving his mouth without
him thinking of them
then he stopped himself one day an repeated outloud what came out of his mouth Up In Adam Whaddafuck Im not Im I mean Up
And At It WhyamI saying up in adam
overhearing him laying beside him
she laughed Thats what Ive always wanted
to knowsince the first time I heard you say it
CHRIST Why didntya ask
I suspected you said so only to
intimates a quirkan affectation
Jesus Throw
me a bone When I make an ass out of
myself tell me
I didnt find it assworthy It was cute
an youre rarely cute
Fuuuck I hate cute
And thats probably all the more
why I didnt say so
he was cutehe needed cute like he
needed a hole in his head
he reached down to pet octobers
head
she tried to avoid his handshe
was feral only a month in the house
he retried and grabbed an ear See Still
stuck to your head girl thats a good thing
she batted at his hand withholding
her nails
she was learning
he texted : I
love that you’re up in adam, baby. Feet
on the ground?
:
grounded
he relaxed she was on her own but she was still notorious it was only one battle in a long war
turning again he laid the cell
beside the alarm clock and depressed the lever that killed the alarm
laying back october remained
between his legs so he kept on pulling her earpetting her
maybe just maybe
she purred
then he placed his hand on the
covers at his waist and looked over it at her calico facecalicoes fascinated
him she was the first he ever cared
for his daughter had one Elmo Elmo lived sixteen years died a month before
she gave birth to her first daughtershe always said that she took Elmo in a
barn kitty to prove to herself that she could care for another living
thing she didnt dare want a child being
the first living thing she ever cared for with Elmos help she also cared for Aeros a
German Shepherd who died very young of gastric torsion and Takota another fine
German Shepherd who capably filled the wound and gap that Aeros’ death made
musing of his daughter he became
aware that octobers eyes were fixedskewed to the space to his right
he watched her
she definitely watched something
definitely
Awshit he thought I hope she not watching a ghost
animals cats dogs can see ghosts
theyre easily within their realm
its human beings with their big brains
that either can or cant an more often dont
dont want to acknowledgeor fear that
they share the world with the immaterial who for their own reasons throw off their cloaks
an appear they walk move fly hover with the sublime agility as only they can
the house had three ghostthree
roommates thats what they called them an they were grateful they shared the space
without enmity with patience times with
humour
itd be like one of them now in
bed to be seen by october her feralness
making her closer to them than he could ever be
Times
up he muttered softly
he had to look an see what she was looking at he hoped it wasnt one of their heads
disembodied laying beside his weightless looking at him
he turned his head
his heart in his throat
he saw
october intently watched the
secondhand of the alarm clock move through time in its staccato fashion
0817, Day-between-Two-Ts, 7 3.18
1157, Saturday,
10 3. 18
