lives together. In the end, they really
lived for one another.”
“Yeah, you could almost say that they each went
through a kind of metamorphosis.”
“Exactly!” She didn’t get my joke.
The movie marathon had taken up our whole day and by
the time we emerged from the den, it was time for dinner.
“What should we cook?” I pulled open the pantry
doors.
“I dunno. I don’t really feel like eating.”
“Imagine that. Well, I do feel like eating. In fact,
I'm starving and so is Max and I think it is best that you give
that baby some kind of something healthy. You need some proper
nourishment and protein. How about meatloaf?”
“Bleh. Gag me. No.”
“Ok, what about a chef salad, then?”
“Ooh, yummy.”
“Good, can you do the lettuce and vegetables and I’ll
slice up some turkey and ham? Max can get the dressing.”
“Deal.”
And so, the three of us worked side by side in the
kitchen: Ava washed and chopped veggies, I sliced fresh deli meat
and Max ferreted items out of the fridge for us and did a great job
at finding my favorite croutons in the pantry. Any lingering
thoughts of Julia and her strange behavior evaporated as I
concentrated on my family. We ate and Ava proposed one more movie,
one that both of us actually wanted to watch. Max went down for the
night, we wrapped ourselves up in our own bed with the TV on and
the movie playing and we both were asleep before the ending
credits.
Chapter 7
Fight
The sound came first – loud roaring powerful waves
pummeled the earth with anger, wind whistled and pierced my ears on
its journey to carve through the tall cliffs. The feeling came
second, cool sea-spray hissed and misted my face and a fear, a
gut-wrenching, deep-belly, run-for-my-life panic consumed me. Blood
pooled behind my ears and my heart hammered with each step I was
forced to take. Rocks crunched under my shoes and loose pebbles
crumbled down the narrow ledge to the rocky shoreline hundreds of
feet below. A fall from this height would kill me and if by some
chance I were to make it into the water without hitting the jagged
serrated rocks jutting out from the sea like harpoons, the rip
current would wrap around my ankles and drag me under and I would
never break through to the surface again. Looking ahead, though, I
saw images of a future I would rather die than live through, and so
I sucked in my final living breath, filled my mind with images of
her and I jumped. My fate would be the water, not the rocks.
My body jerked violently awake. I gasped and
struggled for breath. I was completely drenched in cold sweat, my
body was clenched tight and every muscle strained and pleaded for
oxygen.
“ Holy shit . Ava … Ava!” Nothing. No sweet body
pinning me down and nestling into my chest. No half-pout and
melting eyes turned to me. Feeling around on the shapeless pile of
pillows and blankets next to me, I found nothing. She was gone.
Exhaustion blurred my eyes and my hazy, unfocused
vision took in grey muted light from the window and told me dawn
was here.
“Ava?” I called out to her, but got no response. My
fingers fumbled around searching the nightstand for my cell phone.
They hit the lamp and it tottered for moment before settling back
in place and still I came back empty handed. My mouth was dry and
my tongue felt like rough sandpaper. I moaned and rolled my face
into the pillow while my hand kept up its blind search for my
watch. Still nothing.
“Come on, ” I groaned, complaining apparently
to no one. Finally, my fingers traced the outline of my glasses. I
stretched to grab them and then sat up. A light from the bathroom
was on and I got up and knocked on the door.
“Ava? Baby, I had a … Christ, it was a nightmare.
Anyway, it scared the shit out of me. Come back to bed. I need
you.”
Nothing.
“Ave?”
I pushed the door open to find that she wasn’t there,
sighed and began my search for her. Max was in his bed, still
asleep, the office was empty and so was the
lived for one another.”
“Yeah, you could almost say that they each went
through a kind of metamorphosis.”
“Exactly!” She didn’t get my joke.
The movie marathon had taken up our whole day and by
the time we emerged from the den, it was time for dinner.
“What should we cook?” I pulled open the pantry
doors.
“I dunno. I don’t really feel like eating.”
“Imagine that. Well, I do feel like eating. In fact,
I'm starving and so is Max and I think it is best that you give
that baby some kind of something healthy. You need some proper
nourishment and protein. How about meatloaf?”
“Bleh. Gag me. No.”
“Ok, what about a chef salad, then?”
“Ooh, yummy.”
“Good, can you do the lettuce and vegetables and I’ll
slice up some turkey and ham? Max can get the dressing.”
“Deal.”
And so, the three of us worked side by side in the
kitchen: Ava washed and chopped veggies, I sliced fresh deli meat
and Max ferreted items out of the fridge for us and did a great job
at finding my favorite croutons in the pantry. Any lingering
thoughts of Julia and her strange behavior evaporated as I
concentrated on my family. We ate and Ava proposed one more movie,
one that both of us actually wanted to watch. Max went down for the
night, we wrapped ourselves up in our own bed with the TV on and
the movie playing and we both were asleep before the ending
credits.
Chapter 7
Fight
The sound came first – loud roaring powerful waves
pummeled the earth with anger, wind whistled and pierced my ears on
its journey to carve through the tall cliffs. The feeling came
second, cool sea-spray hissed and misted my face and a fear, a
gut-wrenching, deep-belly, run-for-my-life panic consumed me. Blood
pooled behind my ears and my heart hammered with each step I was
forced to take. Rocks crunched under my shoes and loose pebbles
crumbled down the narrow ledge to the rocky shoreline hundreds of
feet below. A fall from this height would kill me and if by some
chance I were to make it into the water without hitting the jagged
serrated rocks jutting out from the sea like harpoons, the rip
current would wrap around my ankles and drag me under and I would
never break through to the surface again. Looking ahead, though, I
saw images of a future I would rather die than live through, and so
I sucked in my final living breath, filled my mind with images of
her and I jumped. My fate would be the water, not the rocks.
My body jerked violently awake. I gasped and
struggled for breath. I was completely drenched in cold sweat, my
body was clenched tight and every muscle strained and pleaded for
oxygen.
“ Holy shit . Ava … Ava!” Nothing. No sweet body
pinning me down and nestling into my chest. No half-pout and
melting eyes turned to me. Feeling around on the shapeless pile of
pillows and blankets next to me, I found nothing. She was gone.
Exhaustion blurred my eyes and my hazy, unfocused
vision took in grey muted light from the window and told me dawn
was here.
“Ava?” I called out to her, but got no response. My
fingers fumbled around searching the nightstand for my cell phone.
They hit the lamp and it tottered for moment before settling back
in place and still I came back empty handed. My mouth was dry and
my tongue felt like rough sandpaper. I moaned and rolled my face
into the pillow while my hand kept up its blind search for my
watch. Still nothing.
“Come on, ” I groaned, complaining apparently
to no one. Finally, my fingers traced the outline of my glasses. I
stretched to grab them and then sat up. A light from the bathroom
was on and I got up and knocked on the door.
“Ava? Baby, I had a … Christ, it was a nightmare.
Anyway, it scared the shit out of me. Come back to bed. I need
you.”
Nothing.
“Ave?”
I pushed the door open to find that she wasn’t there,
sighed and began my search for her. Max was in his bed, still
asleep, the office was empty and so was the
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