"He knew!" That was my first thought. My second, which I spoke out loud was "How did you get your heart back?" I really wanted to know. He thought about, cocked his head a bit, and said "I dug for it." That confused me. I wanted to ask him more but he stood up, looked down at me, and said "I guess you'll be going." Not much I could say to that. Plus I was still trying to figure out what the hell he meant. "Dig for it? Was there a secret burial place for Hero hearts? Were they stored somewhere?" I told him "Yeah. I'm gone." Then I got up and started walking back to what I called home, the woods by McDonald's. I could feel his Watcher eyes on me every step of the way until I turned off on a bike path.
I looked around once I hit the path for a decent clump of bushes to take a leak behind. I had been wanting to go since my eyes had opened but I had to wait. Having a real bathroom not far from where I slept was one of the few things from my past life I missed. I hadn't been the only one to use these woods this way. Flies were buzzing around a couple piles of shit off to one side. Thank god I hadn't stepped in it. Just being me guaranteed a little extra space. Stepping in human shit would increase that space by a mile or so. I guess I could think of that has a mixed blessing I thought as I wandered back on the trail.
It was fairly quiet out here since it was early. A jogger pack passed me. No one jogged alone anymore. Women didn't jog at all anymore on this trail unless they had men with them or were armed. I had gotten over how unreal to see joggers pounding by you with weapons strapped to their leg in one of those fancy military holsters. Now it was just one of those things.
While I walked I thought about what Gardener had told me. Jeebus, I had a hard enough time figuring out what people meant normally. I was totally lost when they went cryptic. Yet he knew what I meant. "Dig up a heart. Dig up a heart." This kept going through my head. "Why would Gardener tell me to dig up my heart?" Then it hit me! I got a visual of Mrs. Montez digging in her flower beds with a trowel! Holy Jeebus! He was telling me to get a trowel!.
Nova,lots of insight into these thinking patterns.I do not think those who have always been sane can comprehend them well.
ReplyDeleteNova,I lent my copy of AA to a friend who is a compulsive reader and quite picky.He was reluctant to bother with something self published,but finally got around to reading it.His comments were that it was sloppy in the beginning and improved throughout,a good story,and that he will read the next book with pleasure.This was the early edition which you have since cleaned up a bit.
ReplyDeleteGood. The next book, I feel is a lot better in terms of the writing. Jeebus, lately I have been killed on Amazon with reviews so it is nice to hear.
ReplyDeletenova,it is your first book,and both of us were impressed by how the quality of the writing improved.
ReplyDelete