Comfortable Madness First PDF 4-13-18

“No,” I said. “Yes. And others.”
“I need a cigarette,” Tayla said.
She stumbled into her clothes and we went out to the patio.
Sunrise was hours away. School was hours away. No one moved in
the night. It still felt as if someone were watching me but having
Tayla there helped. Tayla made me feel safe. Tayla made this
world, the physical world more genuine than the world in my head.
“You’re okay,” Tayla said.
“Yeah?”
“Nothing’s going to happen,” she said. “I’m right here.”
“I need you.”
She looked at the gnarled and twisted trees. She looked into
the shadows at the edge of the yard.
“I need time,” she said.
“I thought…”
“It’s hard.”
I nodded. I nodded and finished my smoke.
“Would it be better if I lay down with you?” she asked.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know,” she said.
I closed my eyes. She had no idea how nice it would be to
have her in my bed again. She had no idea how nice it would be to
feel her pressed against my spine, protecting me from the villains in
my dreams, the intrusion of unwanted visitors.