I'm not supposed to take the Lord's name in vain. I still don't know what 'in vain' means, but it's usually what my grandmother snaps at me when I say stuff like that.
The cat didn't seem bothered, at least. She sat there another three branches away, tail twitching back and forth. For a damsel, she didn't seem too keen on being rescued. "Okay, okay," I said, balancing myself on my branch and stretching to reach the next one. "So maybe you're not the stressed heroine. You can be the ruling queen, testing me to see how far I'll go to win your hand. Deal?"
She sat down and meowed at me, ears twitching forward. I don't speak cat, but it was probably as much of a yes as I was going to get. I mean, she wasn't running away, right? Grasping the branch, I pushed off and swung my feet towards the next one. My trainers scraped against the bark, and for a moment I had hold. But then came the shrieking sound of a car horn, and my fingers slipped as I jerked in alarm.
There came a frenzied sound from one of us--me or the cat, I'll never know--and then the cracking pain as I hit another branch. Scrabbling in my panic, I tried to get a grip on the rough bark before gravity dragged me down. Then there was nothing to cling to, nothing to save me before I hit.
And my world shattered into black.
- - -
/You sure he'll wake up?/
/With a heart like his? He's not moving on any time soon./
- - -
I don't know how long it's been since Jesse died. Every time I try to place that memory my mind just shuts down. Closes the windows and runs out on the streets. But I know how many books it's been. Because I've been counting. Every book I pick up at the library. Every story I've wanted to hear, but I can't because she's not there to turn those words from meaningless sounds to a life and world I can understand.
It's been one hundred and twelve books since I last heard her voice.
The cat didn't seem bothered, at least. She sat there another three branches away, tail twitching back and forth. For a damsel, she didn't seem too keen on being rescued. "Okay, okay," I said, balancing myself on my branch and stretching to reach the next one. "So maybe you're not the stressed heroine. You can be the ruling queen, testing me to see how far I'll go to win your hand. Deal?"
She sat down and meowed at me, ears twitching forward. I don't speak cat, but it was probably as much of a yes as I was going to get. I mean, she wasn't running away, right? Grasping the branch, I pushed off and swung my feet towards the next one. My trainers scraped against the bark, and for a moment I had hold. But then came the shrieking sound of a car horn, and my fingers slipped as I jerked in alarm.
There came a frenzied sound from one of us--me or the cat, I'll never know--and then the cracking pain as I hit another branch. Scrabbling in my panic, I tried to get a grip on the rough bark before gravity dragged me down. Then there was nothing to cling to, nothing to save me before I hit.
And my world shattered into black.
- - -
/You sure he'll wake up?/
/With a heart like his? He's not moving on any time soon./
- - -
I don't know how long it's been since Jesse died. Every time I try to place that memory my mind just shuts down. Closes the windows and runs out on the streets. But I know how many books it's been. Because I've been counting. Every book I pick up at the library. Every story I've wanted to hear, but I can't because she's not there to turn those words from meaningless sounds to a life and world I can understand.
It's been one hundred and twelve books since I last heard her voice.
