Desert Places: A Novel of Terror by Blake Crouch

Author:Blake Crouch [Crouch, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780312286446
Publisher: New York : St. Martin's Minotaur, 2004.
Published: 2004-12-23T05:00:00+00:00

13

ON the eleventh day, I didn’t leave my room. Orson slipped in during the afternoon. I wasn’t sleeping, though. Since first light, I’d been awake. He brought me a ham sandwich and a glass of port and set them on the bedside table. I lay on my side, facing him, staring into nothing. The despondence that always struck him afterward was evident in his cumbrous eyes and hushed voice.

“Andy,” he said, but I didn’t acknowledge him. “This is part of it. The depression. But you’re prepared for it.” He squatted down and looked into my eyes. “I can help you through it.”

Raindrops ticked on the tin roof. I had yet to get out of bed to look outside, but the light that struggled shyly between the window bars was far from the brilliance of a desert afternoon. Soft and gray, it sulked in the corners. The turpentine fragrance of wet sagebrush perfumed the desert and my room.

“I’m through with you now,” he said. “You can go home.”

A current of hope flowed through me, and I found his eyes.

“When?”

“Pack today, leave tomorrow.” I sat up in bed and set the plate on my lap. “Feel better?” I took a bite of the cold smoked-ham sandwich and nodded. “I thought you would,” he said, moving to the door. As he opened it, a cool draft swirled into my room. “I’m locking the door. I’ll bring you dinner later this evening. The only thing I ask is that you’re packed before you fall asleep tonight.”

When he was gone, I closed my eyes and saw Lake Norman—mosquitoes humming on the surface, a baby blue sky reflected in the mild water. I could smell the pines again, the rich, living soil. The plagiary of mockingbirds and children’s laughter echoing across the lake filled the dead air of the cabin. I could turn this all into a dream. I’m not home yet. My eyes opened again to somber reality—the sound of Orson moving about the cabin, and rain flooding a desert.

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