Page 150 - Where the Dream Ends ebook

Marc Erdrich

pounded upon the shore and receded, and with each cycle
more confused sounds came from the other room. Finally, they
heard Bob’s voice.

“Stop it!” he shouted. Stop it!” he yelled again.

A wave broke and once again they heard nothing. As it re-
ceded, they heard a loud moan. The noise kept on this way for
nearly half an hour. Each time a wave crested, Harry and his
wife whispered to one another. When the wave fell away and
the sounds began again, they were silent. At times the noises
from the other room were so loud they considered storming
into Bob and Jean’s bedroom and demanding to know what
was going on. But then a wave would crash upon the beach
and they would lie frozen in their reverie.

At first, as the episode unfolded, Harry was frightened and
confused, but then he was aroused by the sexual tension in
Bob and Jean’s bedroom. Then he became frightened again.
Once, when a wave was upon them, Harry said to his wife,
not in a whisper, “If they’re having sex it sure is kinky.” She
responded by snuggling closer to him. Suddenly, they heard
Bob shouting.

“Goddamn it, what’s the matter with you?”

“Do you suppose they’re having an argument?” Harry’s
wife asked as a wave crested. Harry shrugged.

“I don’t know. I suppose. I just wish I knew that everything
was all right.”

“Me too,” his wife replied, burying her head in Harry’s
chest.

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