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His direct, coal-black eyes glirief and syh repressed tears of my own

My friend Bobby Halloway says that I tend to anthropo to them human attributes and attitudes which they do not, in fact, possess

Perhaps this is because animals, unlike soged citizens of Moonlight Bay see of life—as well as hbors

Bobby tells ardless of n of io copulate with himself

I co behind his ears He was curiously tense Twice he cocked his head to listen intently to sounds I could not hear—as if he sensed a threat loo even worse than the loss of my father

At that ti suspicious about Dad’s i death Cancer was only fate, not ainst God

That I had lost both parents within two years, that my mother had died when she was only fifty-two, that my father was only fifty-six as he lay on his deathbed…well, all this just seemed to be my poor luck—which had been with me, literally, since my conception

Later, I would have reason to recall Orson’s tension—and good reason to wonder if he had sensed the tidal wave of trouble washing toward us

Bobby Halloould surely sneer at this and say that I a thesuperhuree—and then tell Bobby to go copulate vigorously with himself

Anyway, I petted and scratched and generally comforted Orson until a horn sounded in the street and then, alain in the driveway

Sasha had arrived

In spite of the sunscreen on my neck, I turned up the collar of my jacket for additional protection

From the Stickley-style foyer table under a print of Maxfield Parrish’s Daybreak, I grabbed a pair of wraparound sunglasses

With my hand on the hammered-copper doorknob, I turned to Orson once ht”

In fact, I didn’t know quite hoe could go on without ht and to the people of the day

More than that, he loved me as no one left on earth could love ed child He understood ain

“We’ll be all right,” I repeated

The dog regarded ly, as if he knew that I was lying

I opened the front door, and as I went outside, I put on the wraparound sunglasses The special lenses were totally UV-proof

My eyes are reatest vulnerability I can take no risk whatsoever with them

Sasha’s green Ford Explorer was in the driveith the engine running, and she was behind the wheel

I closed the house door and locked it Orson had made no attempt to slip out at my heels

A breeze had sprung up froent scent of the sea The leaves of the oaks whispered as if trans secrets branch to branch

My chest grew so tight that s felt constricted, as was always the case when I was required to venture outside in daylight This sy

Going down the porch steps and along the flagstone walk to the driveway, I felt weighed down Perhaps this was how a deep-sea diver dom of water overhead

2

When I got into the Explorer, Sasha Goodall said quietly, “Hey, Snowman”

“Hey”

I buckled my safety harness as Sasha shifted into reverse

From under the bill of my cap, I peered at the house as we backed away fro hoould appear to me when next I saw it I felt that when ed to him would look shabbier and dier be touched by his spirit

It is a Craftser stone set with asilvered by weather and time, entirely modern in its lines but not in the least artificial or insubstantial, fully of the earth and formidable After the recent winter rains, the crisp lines of the slate roof were softened by a green coverlet of lichen

As we reversed into the street, I thought that I saw the shade nudged aside at one of the living-room s, at the back of the deep porch, and Orson’s face at the pane, his paws on the sill

As she drove away fro since you’ve been out in this?”

“Daylight? A little over nine years”

“A novena to the darkness”

She was also a songwriter

I said, “Damn it, Goodall, don’t wax poetic on me”

“What happened nine years ago?”

“Appendicitis”

“Ah That time when you almost died”

“Only death brings ht”

She said, “At least you got a sexy scar from it”

“You think so?”

“I like to kiss it, don’t I?”

“I’ve wondered about that”

“Actually, it scares ht have died”

“Didn’t”

“I kiss it like I’ a little prayer of thanks That you’re here with me”

“Or maybe you’re sexually aroused by deformity”

“Asshole”

“Your e like that”

“It was the nuns in parochial school”

I said, “You knohat I like?”

“We’ve been together almost two years Yeah, I think I knohat you like”

“I like that you never cut me any slack”

“Why should I?” she asked