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"That’s a way of looking at it"

"I’ in that chair"

He left Peter alone Just five minutes, and the piles of paper on his desk now seemed completely trivial He swiveled his chair to face theThe day had begun with clear skies, but now the weather was turning Low clouds hovered over the city, a heavy gray ust of wind tossed the treetops, followed by a flash, whitening the sky As thunder rolled behind it, the first drops of rain, heavy and slow, tapped the glass

Michael, he thought, what the hell are you up to?

43

Anthony Carter, Twelfth of Twelve, had just shut off the mohen he looked toward the patio and noticed that the tea had arrived

So soon? Could it be noon again already? He angled his chin to the sky--an oppressive su bleached He removed his hankie and then his hat to lass of tea would surely hit the spot

Mrs Wood, she knew that Though of course it wasn’t Mrs Wood who brought it Carter couldn’t say just who it was The sas of ate, who fixed his tools when they broke, who made time turn how it did in this place, every day a season, every season a year

He pushed his mower to the shed, wiped it clean, andin the dirt on the far side of the lawn There was so back, bordered by the beds where Mrs Wood liked to put some summer color Today it was three flats of cos the them in her hair

"Tea’s here," Carter said

A a kerchief around her neck; there was dirt on her hands and face where she’d wiped the sweat away

"You go ahead" She batted a gnat froet these in first"

Carter sat and sipped the tea Perfect as always, sweet but not too sweet, and the ice lass Fro notes of the girls’ playing Sometimes it was Barbies or dress-ups So over and over--Shrek was one, and The Princess Bride--and he felt sorry for the two of them, Miss Haley and her sister, all alone and stuck inside the house, waiting for their mama to come home But when Carter peeked in the s, there was never anybody there; the inside and the outside were two different places, and the rooms were empty, not even any furniture to tell that people lived there

He’d had sos Such as, what this place exactly was The best he could co room, like at a doctor’s office You bided your tiazine, and then when your turn cao on to the next place, whatever that was Aarden "the world behind the world," and that seeht He’d have to get back to work soon; there was a sprinkler head needed replacing, and the pool to ski to do He liked to keep the yard just so for the day when Mrs Wood would return Mr Carter, what a beautiful job you’ve done taking care of the place You’re a godsend I don’t knohat I ever did without you He liked to think of the things they’d say to each other when that day caood talk, just like they used to, sitting on the patio the way any two friends would do

But for the e came off the heat He unlaced his boots and closed his eyes The garden was a place for thinking your thoughts, and that hat he did now He re to him in Terrell, which was the death house, and then a ride in a van with deep cold and snowyhi awful, but that wasn’t the worst of it The worst was the voices in his head I am Babcock I am Morrison I aht Martínez Reinhardt…He saw pictures too, horrible things, people dying and such, like he was drea someone else’s dreams He’d been to school for a bit, and they’d read a book by Mr William Shakespeare Carter hadn’t actually readchopped up in a blender, that’s how confusing it was But the teacher, Mrs Coe, a pretty white lady who decorated the walls of her classroos like "Reach for the stars" and "Be a friend to make a friend," had showed the class a video Carter liked it, how everybody was always getting in swordfights and dressed like a pirate, and Mrs Coe explained that the oing crazy because so poison in his ear There was more to the story, but Carter remembered that part, because that’s what the voices reminded him of Like poison poured in his ear