Chapter 102

“How did I get here?”

“What do you remember?”

I remembered a black night, without a single star twinkling above me as I lay in distress. There was dirt and gravel and weeds deadened by weeks of winter before and a spring that was taking its time. It was definitely warmer, now, warmer than the early April night I’d come from, but also in some sort of ethereal way, like a hug bringing comfort after a bad dream or a loss. Before the bright light, total darkness had surrounded me. Now, it was daytime, and the grass where we stood edged a field of wildflowers proclaiming summer, the smell of exhaust and gas fumes replaced by the pleasant aroma of them. None of that came out in words, though, because my next thought was of my sister.

“Can you guys meet Shelby, now, you and Calvin? Where is Calvin?”

“He’ll be here shortly.”