Cumberland by Michael V. Smith

Author:Michael V. Smith [Smith, Michael V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cormorant Books
Published: 2017-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

She came to Aaron in his dreams, of course. She felt like a small release in his chest, like a muscle relaxing in his heart when he first saw her, but the comfort wouldn’t last. Every time, she appeared differently. Once it was a hairpin he’d never seen her wear, sometimes she was holding a baseball bat, and another time a small hammer. The objects would look like they belonged to her, she looked perfectly natural, as if there were a side to her he’d never known and only after her death was he allowed a peek into this world of hers, a world without him. Occasionally there would be a stranger talking animatedly with his mother, which upset him. Or music. A few weeks after her burial, he’d heard a sort of piano tinkling outdoors as his mind watched his mother bend in the garden taking up the weeds. Always, there was this pull between his being comfortable in his skin from seeing her, and then anxiety that she wasn’t as he’d remembered.

Aaron woke in the middle of the night with the room cool on his face. He’d been dreaming of her again, this time she was swimming in an in-ground pool. Sitting on a plastic lounge chair a few feet away from the edge, he didn’t like how she looked underwater. A phone rang briefly inside the house, but still he didn’t want to take his eyes from her. He couldn’t fix a hold on her body, slithering and distorted in the water. That’s how she seemed to him, distant and unpredictable. When she rose out of the water, she looked right at him. She’d swum from one end of the pool to the other and had him in her sights the minute she pushed her head above the surface. She’d known exactly where he was the whole time. It felt good. And it unnerved him. Though he couldn’t say what about it was scary, Aaron’s skin crawled.

Under the covers, he was in a damp sweat, too warm. He had to pee. His dad had let him have a second glass of juice before bed and now he regretted it. Was his father in bed? What time was it? His head wasn’t clear. His eyes were caked with sleep and his abdomen was really sore with the need for a toilet. Throwing back the covers, he climbed out of bed. 2:01 in the morning on the clock radio. His dad must be in bed by now. The air was so cold compared to the bedcovers. Trundling to the door, he held his arms around his chest to keep warm.

The window in the hall was open, that’s why it was cold. He would shut it after he went pee. He walked to the bathroom, peed too carelessly over the edge, then came back down the hall feeling more alert. He thought he heard his father’s voice. Was he calling him? Spooked and feeling vulnerable in the hall, Aaron knocked on his father’s door.

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