Winter Wedding

Klempner My eyes snap open to darkness… A clicking sound… Claws on concrete... Was I awake as I heard it? Or asleep? Scratching and scraping… A skritching noise… Cold sweat soaks the sheet under me. My hand, of its own volition, slams toward the light switch. But before I reach it, something cold and wet shoves at my face: Bear’s nose. My heart gives a mighty slam… Christ... … and I snatch for air. Pull yourself together man... Heartbeat decelerating, I switch on the light anyway. Bear wriggles his backside in an ecstasy of wagging, poking at me with his snout, claws tap-tapping on the hard floor, then muffling as they snag on the bedside rug. Reaching from under the blankets, I scratch an ear, keeping my voice low, trying not to disturb Mitch. “Good boy.” He blows air in my face, sweet and a little meaty, gives my hand a perfunctory lick, then huffs, dropping to the rug. Head on paws, he faces the door, eyes drooping. No rat’s going to get past him… A short-cut to snacks… I roll onto my back, staring up, reluctant to switch off the lamp. Bear’s breathing grows steady and slow. Turn off the light… … Turn off the f*****g light… There’s nothing there in the dark that’s not there in the light… Inhaling, feeling the rise and fall of my chest, the quickening of my heartbeat again, still I hesitate… You’re a grown man… Half the world is scared shitless of you… So, what the f**k’s the matter? … then flick off the light-switch. Staring into the gloom, I become conscious of the warmth of the body beside mine: warm, comforting… Mitch… I roll again, this time to face my wife… My wife… All I ever wished for… She’s watching me, her eyes a green and white glint against the dark, fixed on mine. Drawing close, she contours herself to me. Her hands in my hair, stroking, wordless, she opens her mouth over mine. *****