panting of dogs. One of them nudged the bedroom door open, walked up to the edge of the bed, and stuck his muzzle in my face. His wet nose sniffed me a moment, and then he scampered out. My wristwatch showed it was four in the morning, a little bit early to get up, but I knew I’d not be able to go back to sleep. Quietly getting out of bed, I tiptoed into the bathroom and cleaned up. I found Konya sitting in front of the fireplace. He looked up when I walked in the den.
“Number Two seems to like you,” he said affably.
I smiled and got the coffee pot going.
“It took a while for me to get to sleep. The kids had no problem, but it was a strange feeling for me. Once I nodded off, I slept like a rock until a few minutes ago. I must have been having a bad dream or something because I jerked awake and had a mild panic attack until I remembered where I was. You ever have nightmares about those things?”
I managed a halfhearted chortle. “Oh yeah,” I replied, “all the time. I imagine we all do.” I thought about when Julie had the dreams. She’d start whimpering and shaking. All I could do was hold her gently until the dream passed. I gestured at the dogs.
“Have they been outside yet?”
Konya shook his head. “I thought it might make you folks nervous if you heard doors opening up early in the morning.”
I nodded with understanding and gestured toward the back door. Donning jackets, we walked outside with the dogs and stood on the deck while we watched them do their business. Curly was right there beside them and seemed to like having new friends. It was cold out, I could see our breaths and the frost was thick on the ground.
“I’m going to get the generator started and check on the farm animals. It should only take a few minutes,” Konya nodded at me and went back inside.
I hurriedly checked on everything to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary and went back inside carrying a basket of eggs. Konya’s jaw dropped open when he saw them.
“Oh, my, God,” he said quietly. “I haven’t had any eggs since – hell, since I’ve had coffee. I think I’m in heaven.”
I chuckled. “We’ve worked hard to get ourselves to our current state, but we’ve still got a long way to go.”
“He always says that,” Julie said as she shuffled into the kitchen. She handed Frederick over to me and fixed herself a cup of coffee. Her hair was still mussed and her face was puffy. I thought she looked beautiful.
“Watch Frederick, I’m going to get cleaned up,” she shuffled off to the restroom before I responded.
“She’s not much of a morning person,” I said as I looked at Frederick. My son stared back at me quietly with his deep blue innocent eyes. He was a quiet one, he only cried when he was hungry or we didn’t get his diaper changed in a timely manner. Konya motioned me to stay seated, retrieved the coffee pot, and refilled our mugs before sitting back down and looked at us wistfully.
“I’ve forgotten what this is like,” he finally said after savoring his coffee for a moment. “The family life, I forgot what it was like. I loved my wife. She was my best friend. My kids were great, but when my daughter went away to college, she got mixed up with the wrong crowd, and then my son was killed.”
He continued sipping his coffee, lost in his thoughts. It was then I noticed one of his thumbs was missing. He saw me looking.
“My wife turned and attacked me before I knew what was happening. I instinctively grabbed her to hold her off me. My hand got a little too close to her mouth and she damn near bit my thumb off. Once I got her locked up in the bedroom, I cut the rest of it off and cauterized it on the kitchen stove,” he looked at the mass of scar tissue where his thumb used to be.
“It hurt like hell,” he said with a pained expression. I could only imagine. “It must have worked though, because I didn’t get infected.”
Kelly shuffled in next. I had to admit to myself, she
“Number Two seems to like you,” he said affably.
I smiled and got the coffee pot going.
“It took a while for me to get to sleep. The kids had no problem, but it was a strange feeling for me. Once I nodded off, I slept like a rock until a few minutes ago. I must have been having a bad dream or something because I jerked awake and had a mild panic attack until I remembered where I was. You ever have nightmares about those things?”
I managed a halfhearted chortle. “Oh yeah,” I replied, “all the time. I imagine we all do.” I thought about when Julie had the dreams. She’d start whimpering and shaking. All I could do was hold her gently until the dream passed. I gestured at the dogs.
“Have they been outside yet?”
Konya shook his head. “I thought it might make you folks nervous if you heard doors opening up early in the morning.”
I nodded with understanding and gestured toward the back door. Donning jackets, we walked outside with the dogs and stood on the deck while we watched them do their business. Curly was right there beside them and seemed to like having new friends. It was cold out, I could see our breaths and the frost was thick on the ground.
“I’m going to get the generator started and check on the farm animals. It should only take a few minutes,” Konya nodded at me and went back inside.
I hurriedly checked on everything to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary and went back inside carrying a basket of eggs. Konya’s jaw dropped open when he saw them.
“Oh, my, God,” he said quietly. “I haven’t had any eggs since – hell, since I’ve had coffee. I think I’m in heaven.”
I chuckled. “We’ve worked hard to get ourselves to our current state, but we’ve still got a long way to go.”
“He always says that,” Julie said as she shuffled into the kitchen. She handed Frederick over to me and fixed herself a cup of coffee. Her hair was still mussed and her face was puffy. I thought she looked beautiful.
“Watch Frederick, I’m going to get cleaned up,” she shuffled off to the restroom before I responded.
“She’s not much of a morning person,” I said as I looked at Frederick. My son stared back at me quietly with his deep blue innocent eyes. He was a quiet one, he only cried when he was hungry or we didn’t get his diaper changed in a timely manner. Konya motioned me to stay seated, retrieved the coffee pot, and refilled our mugs before sitting back down and looked at us wistfully.
“I’ve forgotten what this is like,” he finally said after savoring his coffee for a moment. “The family life, I forgot what it was like. I loved my wife. She was my best friend. My kids were great, but when my daughter went away to college, she got mixed up with the wrong crowd, and then my son was killed.”
He continued sipping his coffee, lost in his thoughts. It was then I noticed one of his thumbs was missing. He saw me looking.
“My wife turned and attacked me before I knew what was happening. I instinctively grabbed her to hold her off me. My hand got a little too close to her mouth and she damn near bit my thumb off. Once I got her locked up in the bedroom, I cut the rest of it off and cauterized it on the kitchen stove,” he looked at the mass of scar tissue where his thumb used to be.
“It hurt like hell,” he said with a pained expression. I could only imagine. “It must have worked though, because I didn’t get infected.”
Kelly shuffled in next. I had to admit to myself, she
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