Tough Day for the Army Read Free Page B

hand in defense. “I’m not one for sweets,” she said.
    Nelson’s spirit sank to his shoes. He watched Jürgen try again, and receive a second demurral. Nelson couldn’t bear it anymore, so he did the final bad thing and went outside to the balcony, the cold air sucking the breath from his lungs to the point they hurt, and then he looked up at the stars.
    Whoa , he said to himself. I am tripping balls. Vermont had lots and lots of stars, but Utah, somehow, had more. Maybe it was the altitude of Provo or the lack of humidity or the limited light pollution, but from Nelson’s balcony, it looked like there were more stars than there was darkness, so the whole firmament was like snow on the television, and that’s when Nelson had the visions.
    It wasn’t clear if the stars were plunging toward him or he was zooming into space, but either way, Nelson was among them. They were impossibly bright, but he, Nelson, could look directly at them. They were impossibly hot, but he, Nelson, could touch them.
    Joseph Smith also had visions, which he called revelations because he was founding a religion. While touching the stars, Nelson realized that Joseph Smith might not have been a con man or crazy, but instead might have been tripping balls on some kind of native wacky weed, and this started to change Nelson’s perspective on the man, in that Joseph Smith and Nelson had something important in common, namely that they were both capable of traveling in space without a rocket ship. That’s got to be an exclusive club.
    Nelson waited for his revelation, the message that would catapult him to a raised consciousness and turn him into a leader of men and women across the plains of the country to a promised land where there were so many stars. What a place to guide your people to!
    He felt capable of withstanding the skeptics, their slings and arrows —which were literal in the case of Joseph Smith—but would more likely be words in Nelson’s. Nelson had withstood these things already, truth be told. Nelson’s body swelled with importance as he imagined the multitudes with which he would be filled. Nelson knew Mor-mons believed that with sufficient devotion and dedication, man could become God, and in that moment, zooming among the stars above, he thought they were probably very wise.
    â€œYou’re, like, super-high, aren’t you?” Chelsea Stubbins said to Nelson.
    â€œI am tripping balls,” Nelson replied. He was flat on his back on the concrete slab of the balcony. His eyes were closed, but he sensed a figure looming over him. He knew he was cold, but at the same time couldn’t feel it. Maybe he was not flat on his back on a concrete slab but was still floating through space, and Chelsea Stubbins was floating with him. He squeezed his eyes more securely shut in case Chelsea Stubbins speaking to him was a dream.
    â€œIt’s in the brownies?”
    â€œAnd the cookies and the Krispies, and everything else,” Nelson said.
    Nelson heard Chelsea Stubbins put her parka back on before sitting down next to him. The Gore-Tex rubbing was like tires squealing in his ears, and he winced.
    â€œThings feeling a little… enhanced?” Chelsea Stubbins asked.
    â€œI am fully alive. I extend to every corner of the universe.”
    â€œThat sounds like a lot of work.”
    â€œI like hearing your voice,” Nelson said because it was true. It soothed. “Are you here, or am I there?”
    â€œI’m going to take your hand, OK?” Chelsea Stubbins said.
    Nelson nodded, but he was afraid. He didn’t think he should be touched under these circumstances, but the warmth of her skin and then her thumb rubbing over the tendons on the back of his hand felt good. He considered opening his eyes, but then reconsidered.
    â€œI’m filled with rage,” Nelson said.
    â€œWhat does that feel like?”
    â€œBad, mostly. Sometimes good,