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I realize: I a to convince her Not like this Not here

"Look," I say, "what if we ain tomorrow at the same time? I won’t be in the same body, but I’ll be the same person Would that make it easier to understand?"

She’s skeptical "But couldn’t you just tell someone else to come here?"

"Yes, but ould I? This isn’t a prank This isn’t a joke It’sthat You know I’m not You can sense that e me See what connection she can find

"What’s your naan Powell"

"No I mean your real name"

My breath catches Nobody has ever asked me this before And I’ve certainly never offered it

"A," I say

"Just A?"

"Just A I ca myself whole, even as I went fro pure So I ith the letter A"

"What do you think about ht I think it’s beautiful, even if you once found it hard to spell"

She stands up from her chair I stand up, too

She holds there I can tell there are lots of thoughts she’s considering, but I have no idea what they are Falling in love with someone doesn’t mean you know any better how they feel It only means you kno you feel

"Rhiannon," I say

She holds up her hand for me to stop

"No ive you tomorrow Because that’s one way to know, isn’t it? If what you say is happening is really happening--I mean, I need more than a day"

"Thank you," I tell her

"Don’t thank "

"I know"

She puts on her jacket and starts heading for the door Then she turns around tois," she says, "I didn’t really feel it was him that day Not completely And ever since then, it’s like he wasn’t there He has no memory of it There are a million possible explanations for that, but there it is"

"There it is," I agree

She shakes her head