In the Shadow of Satellites by Dick Amanda

Author:Dick, Amanda [Dick, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Amanda Dick
Published: 2016-08-19T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

I’m starting to see Luke in a different light. He has a depth that I haven’t even begun to plumb yet, secrets that I’m not sure I want to know. I can’t begin to understand what it must be like to have seen what he’s seen, to have walked in his shoes. Yet, despite all of that, he passes for normal, or more normal than me, which I guess isn’t saying much, considering. I don’t know how he does it, but part of me yearns to find out. It’s almost as if the universe has given me a key, I just have to find the lock.

Luke finally deems me worthy to be left alone after lunch. I mark off the last few days on the calendar, bold red crosses that bring me up to date in more than one sense. As I stand there, staring at the red crosses, it occurs to me that they signify more than just the disappearance of my black pen. My fragile world has been shaken up. Again.

For the first time, I wish I had internet access here. I want to research constellations, I want to know what I’m looking at in the night sky. I consider phoning Ana, but I can’t share what’s happened over the past twenty-four hours without telling her about what happened at the rock, and I don’t want her to know about that. Besides which, my friendship with Luke is based on a shared grief that I’m not sure he would want anyone else privy to. His secrets deserve to be kept as much as mine do.

Instead, I watch as he heads over to the shore in his boat, and find myself tuned into the sound of the engine as he comes back. I sit at my table and write in my notebook as his hammering forms a background soundtrack that’s strangely comforting. Hours pass, the day comes to a lazy end, and I try not to think about the fact that I haven’t heard James’s voice in days.

I’m sitting on the deck later, wondering what I can be bothered making for dinner, when Geezer comes ambling over the lawn. I’ve missed him, even though he’s only been gone a few hours. He bounds up the stairs as if he’s done it a million times, and sits at my feet. I notice immediately that he has a small, empty plastic Coke bottle in his mouth.

“What’ve you got there?” I ask, as if he’s able to answer me.

He just stares at me with big brown eyes as I reach down to remove it. At first, I don’t think he’s going to let it go, but eventually I lever it out of his jaws. It’s then that I notice it’s not actually empty – there’s a piece of rolled up paper inside. I frown at Geezer, but he doesn’t seem to want to tell me, so I open the bottle and tip the paper out into my hand. It’s small, about the size of my palm, and rolled up tightly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.