Apocalypstick Read Free Page B

hope it’s
not distemper, or something.”
    Shelia comes down the stairs wearing grey running shorts and a
tight pink shirt. “She’s had her shots. I’m going to jog around the
neighborhood and look for her. Can you make a couple of passes on your way to
work?”
    David hugs her. “Yeah, I have a meeting with the concrete guys
at ten, but I should still have enough time to prepare. Don’t worry. She’s a
smart dog. She’ll probably find us before we find her.”
    Shelia nods, but doesn’t look convinced. “Good luck today,” she
says.
    “You, too,” he says back. He kisses her goodbye and goes out
through the garage.
    He backs the truck down to the street and starts driving slowly
around the block. I wondered why he wasn’t going to the quarry. It was a
perfect place for a run-away dog to go. There might even be someone there who could
help find her. David thinks so too. He turns the truck around and leaves the
neighborhood.
    A few minutes later, I heard his wheels grinding down the gravel
road. He stopped next to the van and walked over to me.
    “Morning,” he said.
    I looked over my shoulder at him, still sitting on the edge.
“Hi,” I said with a little wave.
    “Are you alright, Pal?”
    Did he really care if I was alright?
    “My leg hurts,” I said.
    “Here, let me help you up. Can you stand?”
    I nodded, and he pulled me to my feet. It was nice of him. He
was very handsome in person. He smelled good, too. Not perfumy, but nice in a
manly way.
    “I’m looking for my dog. She’s about fifteen pounds, brown curly
hair. You haven’t seen her, have you?”
    I smiled and nodded. David seemed like a really nice person. He
was just the sort of person I wished I could be.
    “Shirley’s down there,” I said, pointing to the bottom of the
quarry. “I’ve been watching her.”
    “Oh, that’s such a relief,” he sighed. “It’s weird, you know? I just
knew I’d find her here.” He stepped up next to me and scanned the dark pit for
Shirley, but after a couple of seconds, he took a sideways step away, and turned
to face me.
    “I didn’t say her name, friend,” he said, suddenly very serious.
He looked back at the van, and I knew he recognized it. “You were outside my
house yesterday. What are you doing here with my dog, and how do you know her
name?”
    I bowed my head. He was so nice a minute ago, now he was really
mad. Why did nice people always get so mad at me? Why couldn’t we ever be
friends? I closed my eyes, and pictured Shirley running around at the bottom of
the quarry, barking.
    David looked down, but didn’t see her yet. My foggy head made it
hard to picture her. My whole body was starting to ache. I must have been
getting a fever.
    “Now what are you going to do?”
    It was my other voice again.
    “Go away,” I said.
    David must have thought I was talking to him. “I am going to get
my dog,” he said. “You better be gone when I get back up here, and pray that I
never see you again.”
    “You can’t do anything right. I’m going to have to clean this
up, too, aren’t I?” My other voice said.
    “No. I’ll do it. Just leave me alone. Go away!”
    “Hurry! Push him in!” my other voice said. “Bah! I’ll do it!”
    “I don’t need your help! Go away!” I was yelling again.
    David grabbed my shoulders and pulled me away from the edge, but
my other voice took over.
    When I woke up, I was on the edge of the cliff again, and David’s
broken body was sprawled on its back at the bottom of the quarry.
    “Look what you’ve done, now,” my other voice said, “I hope
you’re happy.”
    “Ow! OW! Whass happened?” I asked, but my other voice was
silent. My leg hurt worse than ever, my top lip was split open, and my nose was
bleeding. My tongue probed through a gap in my teeth to touch my torn lip.
Dammit! I was missing a tooth. No, two teeth! Right in front, in the middle of
my smile. I staggered back from the precipice once more, and shambled over to
my van,