Chin Alan - Island Song by Alan Chin

Author:Alan Chin [Chin, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

18. Garrett sits on a deck chair. The combination of the warm sunshine and a cool breeze pamper his face. The warmth slowly draws his mind away from the writing.

He notices the shadows of swift-moving clouds racing across the choppy bay. The water is not so rough that he can't swim, but he's not sure he wants to brave the cold. It does feel good, he thinks, to sit in the sun and smell the sweet scents that ride the wind down from the mountains, and it is glorious to be outside again after lying in bed for weeks.

Songoree comes through the doorway and sets a tall glass of red liquid on the table.

"Sorry," he says. "No celery, but we have Worcestershire and Tabasco, and I mixed in lots of Japanese pepper."

Garrett flinches at hearing Songoree use the word we. Years have passed since that word was used to include him. He smiles, then, deciding he likes the sound of it.

The drink goes down smooth and thick. It's not strong, but the ache in his head begins to dull as soon as he takes two gulps. His mouth burns. Beads of perspiration form on his upper lip.

Songoree lays a hand on his shoulder and gently squeezes, "If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen making lunch." He turns and disappears through the doorway.

"If I need anything," Garrett says to himself. "What I need is for you to hold me tight all through the night and not let me go." The words sound like some hollow love song or the message on a Hallmark card. The thought turns sour.

He shakes the notion from his head and turns his thoughts to how comforting it's been to have Songoree stay at the house, sleeping in the next room, playing his guitar on the edge of the bed, their long conversations, his easy laughter. All that will end now that he's back on his feet. Could that be why he has resisted getting better, he wonders?

"The hell with it," he mumbles. He has today. Audrey, Owen and Micah will come, and the five of us will have a great time. There will be no loneliness today. Enjoy today while it lasts. He reaches for the glass, but it's empty. He does a double-take, not realizing he had finished it.

Tomorrow, he decides, you go back to work and push to finish the story. Once it's done, you go someplace where you don't have to think about Marc or Song, someplace where you can put everything behind you. It will be bad when I leave the island, when I leave Song, but I knew better than to fall in love with a straight boy.

Having lost love once, he knows all too well what's to come when he's alone again. Already feeling his future loss, he admits to himself for the first time how deeply he loves Songoree.

Yes, love, and that's what will make it bad. He could ask Songoree to go with him, but Songoree has his girlfriend, his family and his island life.

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