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by Ty Franck and Emily Mah
“I’ve been having really strange dreams.” Melanie said, not looking up. Instead, she played with one of the sugar packets she’d taken out of the small ceramic dish on the diner table. She concentrated hard on folding it as many times as she could without it breaking open, because that gave her an excuse not to look up. If she looked up, she’d have to look Jerrod in the eye. Jerrod, who’d been so quiet the last few weeks. Who practically radiated unhappiness. He can’t break up with me if I don’t look at him, she thought to herself. It’s like magic. It’s like hiding under the covers when monsters come. If I can get him talking about my dreams, or football….
“Melanie, we’ve been seeing each other for quite some time now—” Jerrod started in his slow, methodical voice. Melanie could hear him very carefully picking his words, navigating the issue like a minefield. He was always so careful, so meticulous. He’s meticulously breaking up with me, Melanie thought, and then stifled a manic giggle before it could slip out. She gave herself permission to look up as far as his chest, but stopped there. His policeman’s uniform was spotless and crisply pressed. She wondered if being a cop made a person so careful. “—and there are some things that have come up—” Jerrod plowed on. Under the table, Melanie’s leg started to bounce.
This is such a clever story. I love the subtleties and the implied magic. The two main characters are delightful. A book should be developed using these characters and perhaps a related phantom environment. I am going to search the net to read more stories by these gifted authors.