Mike Dixon

He started to doze in the saddle and was soon drifting in
and out of sleep, nodding off then waking when his head
dropped forward. The landscape drifted by. Things seemed
familiar – as if from a distant past – not that he recognized
anything. It just felt like he‟d been there before.
There were pandanus palms beside the road and the
horse tramped through their fallen fronds making a sharp
crunching noise that he remembered from a long time ago.
Mangroves appeared and he heard things splashing in the
water. His head slumped forward and he fell into a deeper
sleep.
The horse grew bigger and he felt very small on its huge
back. Where was Charlie? He remembered a sunhat. He‟d
wanted to take it off but Charlie kept putting it back like it
was a game. Past and present were entwined. The sun hurt
his eyes. It had always been like that. He had sensitive eyes.
His mother had fussed over him with a bonnet. Charlie found
a proper sunhat and sunglasses and walked beside him on
the horse. They kept playing the game. David removed the
sunhat and Charlie put it back on.
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