17

Session 7 (11/9 – 8.15 a.m.):

That afternoon
walking back from school
the subtle sense of wrongness
no – flimsiness, provisionality
that’s been dogging him all day, is reconfirmed

He likes to walk fast
faster than the other pedestrians
– Almost as if you hope you can avoid it if you walk fast enough
Denise had commented
Denise with whom he’d walked so often
– Avoid what? he’d asked, playing straight man as usual
– Avoid whatever it is you’re so anxious to get away from
she’d replied
before going on to denounce his tendency to reply with questions
the lack of trust & openness that showed

Maintaining this pace
means constantly trying to gauge the intentions
of the people walking in front of him
guessing if they’ll veer left or right
calculating the trajectory that’ll get him past them
with minimum derangement

The couple in front looks familiar
as if he knew them in a former life
They’re dressed in white
strange shimmer of silvery hues
the details just a little too far off to be made out
the woman’s blonde
with close-cropped, boyish hair
walking past them on the far edge of the curb
he detects a movement out of the corner of his eye
turning, a moment, he sees her face
the face of the woman in his dream