Dreamcatcher(215)

'Don't talk about those.' Jonesy had listened to two of them, and believed doing so had been the biggest mistake he'd made during his time in Wyoming. Listening to himself speak as Mr Gray  -  under deep hypnosis to become Mr Gray  -  had been like listening to a malevolent ghost. There were times when he thought he might be the only man on earth who truly understood what it was to be raped. Some things were better forgotten.

'Sorry.'

Jonesy waved his hand to show it was okay  -  not a problem ?but he had paled considerably.

'All I'm saying is that, to a greater or lesser degree, we are a species living in the dreamcatcher. I hate the way that sounds, phony transcendentalism, rings on the ear like pure tin, but we don't have the right words for this part of it, either. We may have to invent some eventually, but in the meantime, dreamcatcher will have to do.'

Henry turned in his seat. Jonesy did the same, shifting Noel a little bit on his lap. A dreamcatcher hung over the door to the cabin. Henry had brought it as a house present, and Jonesy had put it up at once, like a Catholic peasant nailing a crucifix to the door of his cottage during a time of vampires.

'Maybe they were just drawn to you,' Henry said. 'To us. The way flowers turn to follow the sun, or the way iron filings line up when they feel the pull of a magnet. We can't tell for sure, because the byrum is so different from us.'

'Will they be back?'

'Oh yes,' Henry said. 'Them or others.'

He looked up at the blue sky of this late-summer day. Some?where in the distance, toward the Quabbin Reservoir, an eagle screamed. 'I think you can take that to the bank. But not today.'

'Guys!' Carla shouted. 'Lunch is ready!'

Henry took Noel from Jonesy. For a moment their hands touched, their eyes touched, and their minds touched  -  for a moment they saw the line. Henry smiled. Jonesy smiled back. Then they walked down the steps and across the lawn side by side, Jonesy limping, Henry with the sleeping child in his arms, and for that moment the only darkness was their shadows trailing behind them on the grass.

Lovell, Maine

May 29, 2000