Comfortable Madness First PDF 4-13-18

Blurred
Tayla started the coffee. Light from the porch was thin and
weak. She turned to me, silent. Her face was stiff and stern, a red
and black mask. I tried not to look at her. It was impossible. Her
eyes pulled me in, held me. I forgot to breathe for a moment.
“Who’s Gid?” she asked.
Her voice ground out like stones in tin bucket. I wanted to
tell her. I wanted to explain the whole thing. Gid’s voice punched
in.
“It’s a secret,” he said.
I swallowed.
“A guy,” I said.
“A guy?” she asked.
“I told you.”
“Your dream.”
“My dream.”
Tayla walked out. She went to the lawn and dug her toes
into the muddy grass. I joined her and the cold and the rain hurt my
joints, but Tayla simply ignored it.
I thought about Gid. I thought about the blurred face. How
come I couldn’t see him? Did that mean anything? How do I tell
Tayla about it? Will she believe me? Do I?
“I see him sometimes,” I said.
“It’s just a dream,” Tayla said.
“Maybe.”
She looks at me with that scared, brave look. It was the
look she got when things were slipping away. It was the look she
put on when she was doing something she didn’t like doing.
“I’m okay,” I said.
Doubt. Fear.
“Really?” she asked.
“It’ll pass,” I said.