Page 191 - Where the Dream Ends ebook

Ships in the Night

Eddie looked out the narrow window that faced the drive-
way, but it was shrouded in shadows and he could see nothing.
Over the sound of the engine, though, he thought he could
hear voices. He closed his eyes, concentrating all his attention
on the sounds coming from the car. He could hear a woman
laughing, no doubt about it.

His concentration was broken by a loud crack on the roof.
Probably a dead branch from a tree landing in one of the rain
gutters, he thought. The loud noise was followed by a deathly
silence as someone cut the car engine. Now all Eddie could
hear was the beating of a moth’s wings against the bathroom
window.

He tried to get up, to find out what was going on, but he
was afraid to move. All he could think of was a night a long,
long time ago when his heart was pounding just like it was
now, and he thought if it kept on beating like that it would
stop, just like his father’s heart had stopped beating. He had
called to his mother, and she came to him and held him and
the fear eventually went away. Now, he wanted Cathy with him
more than anything, but he was afraid, so he lay on the bed,
helpless.

Once again, he heard the voices, several times, but after a
while, they stopped, and Eddie convinced himself that he had
been dreaming all along, that there was no one in his driveway.
Once again, he drifted off into a half sleep. He imagined he
heard a woman moaning, someone calling his name, a scream,
hurried voices, then a door opening and slamming shut. He
sat up, wide awake, and started for the door just as he heard
a car engine turning over and once again the crack of rubber
against rocks and pebbles as the car inched down the driveway

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