Forty-Four
Remembered WordsA cacophony of disjointed voices echoed in my ears and faces swam behind my closed eyelids. I opened my eyes, forcing the images to retreat. For the second time during the night, a nightmare interrupted my sleep.
As my eyes adjusted to the dark, and my pulse slowed, the whispered words from my dream came to mind —secret, rot, merciful, awry, and free. Cecil, Gus, Jasper and my father had said much more, but those words stuck in my brain, heart, and soul. Words spoken by four men who'd affected my life, for the best and for the worst. And while those four men would live in my head, only two had a place in my heart. And it was my heart I would listen to. I let the dream be, deciding it was not worth attention, and neither were Cecil and Gus.
I flipped back the
