Page 71 - Contrast2009

'birds chirping outside or the tail end of her own snoring.

She 'had to .be dreaming. 'Everything was too vivid, too

,bright. All these things appeared too ~eal.

But they were. And perhaps it was a bit too long looking

,'in the mirror and at little; inaccurate details that nobody

'else would have paid any-mind nor money to, but this thing,

this expanding space, was filling Louise from the bottom up.,

She could almost hear it, .t.hesound of emptiness, rising Ln.,'

pitch the closer it came to breaking the world's edge but

spillinb' over into silence just before. Louise took a very;"!

deep breath; 'and' the' man pouring his soda released the lever'

on the mach rnevand gave Louise a strange look. He turned

back to the fountain, put a lid on his drink, and took the

fir~t-st~pSOf his way' out. -.

, By no~, Louise was introverted'to the,point of v

indecency. Not that she 'had given it any weight" light as it ,!

was, but she had been 'staring at the man ; To be fair, the

.. space her eyes had happened to fall coincided with something
she didn~t see. No matter. What was done was over and what
' was still happening wasn't: Moving past self-absorbed and

into self-aware, Louise watched him go .

• As, he passed' Louise, he stopped. He was wearing a long

,sleeved light blue shirt. It was the color of faded denim.

B~t it' didn't look like it'felt like denim. Louise gazed at

it. As it began to glow, the way colors will if you want to

and'let them, Louise felt like she was looking at trees from

a great distanCe.

He also had on, a dark blue' tie and'ironed khakis" but

nobody ca re s,

Even though the 'man wasn't working, he was ,clearly

dressed that way.' He must have become t.h.i rst y and gone

apon break. Or' he could have 'jus't;been to interview. He

could also have been doing laundry, a con man, or simply

eccentric. Loui.se didn' t know. She wondered, what 'he did a;' ,

,he proceeded )-towards the door, almost menacing in his clean,

tidy shirt. He probably work~d' in .an offi~e; she t houqh t.. But .
. 1.,

why was he coming up to ';Louise? What business did he"have

;with' her?

, The man stopped j.ust, to the le'ft and in, front 6f Louise:'

He looked, at her for a moment, trying to catch her eyes.

Louise a~oided them and pretended he wasn't there. He would

go away soon. 'All Louise had to do was stand still and.i.f uc k ,

This w~sn't a 'game.

It wasn't a dream.

Louise was standing ~n front of the door and blockin~

the way,out. S~e blushed.

Don't say anythirlg; ~he thought to herself. So far

she hadn/.t;made eye 'contact. 'She ,could just move. Nothing

sudden. It'd have to be slow. She held her breath and be~an

.......