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He pulled into the lot, fighting to keep the liquor down, his mouth
watering. Running out of time. He skidded to a stop alongside the
store and jumped out. Ran to the front of his car and heaved into
the darkness. His body shivered, his legs wobbled. His stomach
coming up. His liver. All of it. Somehow, he was still holding the
bottle, hadn’t put it down. He breathed hard in and out and
drank, using it to rinse his mouth, swallowing it. Finishing
another bottle.
And there, like an image from a dream, in the darkened shadows
behind the house, he saw four bicycles parked side by side.
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Katie had the kids take a bath before getting them into their
pajamas. Afterward, she showered, lingering under the spray and
enjoying the luxurious feeling of shampoo and soap rinsing the
salt from her body after a day in the sun.
She made the kids their pasta, and after dinner they sorted
through the collection of DVDs, trying to find one that both kids
wanted to watch, until they finally agreed on Finding Nemo. She
sat between Josh and Kristen on the couch, a bowl of popcorn in
her lap, their little hands reaching in automatically from either
direction. She wore a comfy pair of sweats that Alex had laid out
and a worn Carolina Panthers jersey, tucking her legs up under
her as they watched the movie, utterly at ease for the first time
that day.
Outside, the heavens bloomed like fireworks, displaying vibrant
rainbow colors that faded to pastel washes before finally giving
way to bluish-gray and then indigo skies. Stars began to flicker as
the last shimmering waves of heat rose from the earth.
Kristen had begun to yawn as the movie progressed, but every
time Dory appeared on-screen, she managed to chirp, “She’s my