Page 192 - Where the Dream Ends ebook

Marc Erdrich

and out onto the road. He ran outside and around to the back
of the house, but by the time he got there, there was nothing
to see, nothing to hear, only the sound of a car fading into the
distance.

He went back to the house. His clothes were soaked with
sweat. He undressed and lay back down on the bed staring up
at the ceiling. The inside of the cottage was bathed in a gray
light from the outside that settled over everything like a gentle
fog.

Eddie wanted to sleep, but all he could do was lie there,
aching with the confusion that tore at his mind. He saw
Cathy sitting across from him earlier that evening: her eyes,
the way they had looked into his, such intensity from some-
one so young. Whatever made him think she really wanted to
sleep with him? What was he thinking? She was a teenager, his
daughter’s age! What was it he read in those eyes?

What Eddie saw now, looking into those imaginary eyes,
was his own reflection, his own longing, staring back at him,
haunting him. He tossed about, convinced that it was Cathy
and JLE, the video superstar, who were parked in his driveway,
taunting him for his foolishness.
Finally, he fell into a sound sleep. He dreamed that Cathy
was making love to a stranger in front of him. Rockets and
missiles crashed all around: BOOM! POW! KABAAM! Her
moans echoed in his ears. It was an exhausting sleep, but at
least it was sleep. Better than lying awake listening for the
sound of cars, hoping that one of them would be his ship,
come in at last.

190