wheeled cart. Elijah moves away from Greg as two men lift him into position. The blood has now spread over his shirtfront in baby-food dribbles. Despite his Eddie Bauer wardrobe, Greg looks like a bloodied prisoner being taken to the gallows. Isabel steps from one side of the chair to the other—she doesn't know where to be. Elijah hands her the backpack and stands to follow. But the paramedics are already on the move, with Isabel running hastily behind them. Greg looks over, one hand holding the Kleenex to his brow, the other hand raised in a Tom Hanks salute.
Elijah watches the chair disappear around a corner and immediately feels a loss. He can't believe that you can meet a person in this way and then lose touch with them forever. He could check all the hotels in Venice and look for a Greg and an Isabel, but he knows he won't. He wants to, though. Because he wants to believe in sudden fate.
The crowd has dispersed. People are obliviously steppingacross the lines of blood, turning them into streaks and footprints. Those people who didn't see the incident look at the stain with disgust and dismay. Elijah just stares—his momentum is over, his giddiness lost. A hand touches his shoulder.
“I'm sure he'll be fine,” a voice says. Elijah turns around, and there she is—easily one of the loveliest girls he's ever seen. She has short brown hair—light brown—and dazzling azure eyes. Her complexion is smooth. (Elijah, who never notices these things, not even when stoned, suddenly notices them now.) She isn't wearing any make-up. She looks twenty, give or take a year. And she is concerned about him. He sees that right away.
Elijah is afraid to speak, for fear that any word he says will come out as “uh.”
“What you did was very nice,” the girl continues.
“Thank you.”
They hang on a pause. Elijah looks to the ground, looks back up, and she's still there.
A second pause will lead to departure. Elijah wants her to stay, so he gives her his name.
“I'm Elijah.”
“Nice to meet you, Elijah. I'm Julia.”
A bell chimes. Then three bells, and five bells, and seven bells at once.
It is six o'clock.
“Oh my God, I'm late!” Julia's eyes flash a genuine panic. Then they refocus on Elijah.
She touches his forearm.
“I'll see you soon. I promise.”
And there is, that moment, a shock of recognition. Elijah doesn't even know yet what he is recognizing. There is only theshock. The sense. That feeling of something happening that was meant to happen. Two people fitting in a space and time.
For a moment.
Julia smiles
sorry
at him and then is gone.
Elijah stands still. Julia is the kind of person who leaves a vapor trail. Traces of an accent, carried into memory. A perfume of kindness and expectation. A strange sense of certainty.
Elijah cannot explain it. The
I'll see you soon
could be mis taken for a generic farewell. The
I promise
cannot be.
Julia knows she will see him soon.
He hopes she's right.
It is quiet when Elijah returns to the room. It is quiet, but not completely silent. Danny's breathing is as barely noticeable as the rise and fall of his body.
As Elijah steps gently over the floorboards, a bigger sound arrives. Underneath the hotel windows, a gondolier begins to sing with great passion, to cheers from all along the waterway. Elijah peers out and watches as other gondoliers move closer to be nearer to the first gondolier's boat. An accordion begins. Elijah opens a window wide. The only smell is the breeze. Even though the water is a churnish brown, for a moment Elijah can imagine it's a sapphire blue. That is how he feels. The gondolier is passing by, leaving the sound of the waves and an undertow from the Gritti's cafe.
This is why we go on holiday
, Elijah thinks.
You can't get moments like this at home. The familiar can only bring another kind of wonderful.
Even though the sun is lowering, even though there are dinner reservations to be upheld and clothes to change, Elijah lets Danny
Elijah watches the chair disappear around a corner and immediately feels a loss. He can't believe that you can meet a person in this way and then lose touch with them forever. He could check all the hotels in Venice and look for a Greg and an Isabel, but he knows he won't. He wants to, though. Because he wants to believe in sudden fate.
The crowd has dispersed. People are obliviously steppingacross the lines of blood, turning them into streaks and footprints. Those people who didn't see the incident look at the stain with disgust and dismay. Elijah just stares—his momentum is over, his giddiness lost. A hand touches his shoulder.
“I'm sure he'll be fine,” a voice says. Elijah turns around, and there she is—easily one of the loveliest girls he's ever seen. She has short brown hair—light brown—and dazzling azure eyes. Her complexion is smooth. (Elijah, who never notices these things, not even when stoned, suddenly notices them now.) She isn't wearing any make-up. She looks twenty, give or take a year. And she is concerned about him. He sees that right away.
Elijah is afraid to speak, for fear that any word he says will come out as “uh.”
“What you did was very nice,” the girl continues.
“Thank you.”
They hang on a pause. Elijah looks to the ground, looks back up, and she's still there.
A second pause will lead to departure. Elijah wants her to stay, so he gives her his name.
“I'm Elijah.”
“Nice to meet you, Elijah. I'm Julia.”
A bell chimes. Then three bells, and five bells, and seven bells at once.
It is six o'clock.
“Oh my God, I'm late!” Julia's eyes flash a genuine panic. Then they refocus on Elijah.
She touches his forearm.
“I'll see you soon. I promise.”
And there is, that moment, a shock of recognition. Elijah doesn't even know yet what he is recognizing. There is only theshock. The sense. That feeling of something happening that was meant to happen. Two people fitting in a space and time.
For a moment.
Julia smiles
sorry
at him and then is gone.
Elijah stands still. Julia is the kind of person who leaves a vapor trail. Traces of an accent, carried into memory. A perfume of kindness and expectation. A strange sense of certainty.
Elijah cannot explain it. The
I'll see you soon
could be mis taken for a generic farewell. The
I promise
cannot be.
Julia knows she will see him soon.
He hopes she's right.
It is quiet when Elijah returns to the room. It is quiet, but not completely silent. Danny's breathing is as barely noticeable as the rise and fall of his body.
As Elijah steps gently over the floorboards, a bigger sound arrives. Underneath the hotel windows, a gondolier begins to sing with great passion, to cheers from all along the waterway. Elijah peers out and watches as other gondoliers move closer to be nearer to the first gondolier's boat. An accordion begins. Elijah opens a window wide. The only smell is the breeze. Even though the water is a churnish brown, for a moment Elijah can imagine it's a sapphire blue. That is how he feels. The gondolier is passing by, leaving the sound of the waves and an undertow from the Gritti's cafe.
This is why we go on holiday
, Elijah thinks.
You can't get moments like this at home. The familiar can only bring another kind of wonderful.
Even though the sun is lowering, even though there are dinner reservations to be upheld and clothes to change, Elijah lets Danny
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