cheeseburgers, fries, and a milkshake, and when that wasn’t enough, he topped it off with a heaping plate of spaghetti and meatballs.
He shoved his plate forward and crossed his arms on the table and laid down his head and closed his eyes.
****
After a bit of wandering, Alex found himself in the little clearing he had discovered with Eva. He sat on the bench and kicked off his shoes and locked his fingers behind his head and stretched back, curling and uncurling his toes in the grass. He listened to the sounds coming from Dresden and smiled. He thought about taking out Kim’s note and putting her number in his phone, but he figured it could wait. He stared at the valley.
His eyes were drawn to the red barn. He noticed it his second day on campus when they were out exploring. It reminded him of one of those little red hotels from the Monopoly game his dad had tucked away in the closet. A silo stood beside the barn and a white farmhouse was built just beyond its shadow. Alex closed his eyes and let his mind drift through all manner of farmland clichés. Roosters. Chickens. Cows. When he started running out of ideas, he tried to remember the farms he’d seen in the movies, but all it did was make him tired and before long he started to doze.
A breeze rolled across Alex’s left shoulder and all of a sudden he was back in the car. Eva’s mouth close to his ear. Her breath warm on his skin. The way she moved as his fingertips caressed the silk…
Something small bounced off the top of the bench. And Alex felt it.
He looked at the sunflower lying face up on the bench and picked it up and placed it gently into his left palm. He ran his finger around its circumference and knew instantly that it had thirty-four petals. Alex plucked one and rubbed it between thumb and forefinger and the silkiness of it brought him right back to Eva. His face flushed. He remembered her mouth. The way she tasted. The way she moaned. The warmth of her mound and how his touch made her shudder…
The flower moved and tickled his palm and Alex jumped to his feet and jerked his hand away as if he just discovered he’d been holding a tarantula.
He stood there looking at it, its petals twitching harmlessly in the breeze. His heart pounded. He felt pollen residue on his hand and so he wiped it against his jeans. But the feeling wouldn’t go away. He wiped and wiped and spit on his hand and wiped some more but no matter what he did it still felt like he was holding a sunflower.
Alex stared at his palm. Was this it? Was this how it started? A smile slowly formed on his face. He quit focusing on his hand and immediately became aware of a connection at the back of his mind. And although the feeling was foreign, he knew— knew —that what he was sensing was the very essence of the flower.
He looked left and right and when he was sure he was alone he took a deep breath and faced the bench. He held out his hand so that his palm faced the sky and began opening and closing his fingers. The petals did the same. They felt like his fingers. Or maybe his fingers felt like petals. He didn’t know and he didn’t care. He wiggled his digits slowly and then quickly and again the petals did the same. Alex laughed. Whatever trepidation he felt in the lab was gone. He wished he could have been doing this his whole life.
He wanted to make it float. Alex clenched his jaw and imagined his hand slipping under the flower and it started floating, up and up until he stopped it at eye level. He traced his mind around the edge of the petals and the sunflower began to spin. A beautiful, frictionless spin.
Alex considered grabbing his phone but he didn’t want to risk losing focus. Instead he looked over the hedge and spotted another sunflower and with a bit of effort plucked it from its stem and made it float into position so he had two flowers side by side, their petals meshing in the middle like gears in a machine. They continued like this until one of the petals
He shoved his plate forward and crossed his arms on the table and laid down his head and closed his eyes.
****
After a bit of wandering, Alex found himself in the little clearing he had discovered with Eva. He sat on the bench and kicked off his shoes and locked his fingers behind his head and stretched back, curling and uncurling his toes in the grass. He listened to the sounds coming from Dresden and smiled. He thought about taking out Kim’s note and putting her number in his phone, but he figured it could wait. He stared at the valley.
His eyes were drawn to the red barn. He noticed it his second day on campus when they were out exploring. It reminded him of one of those little red hotels from the Monopoly game his dad had tucked away in the closet. A silo stood beside the barn and a white farmhouse was built just beyond its shadow. Alex closed his eyes and let his mind drift through all manner of farmland clichés. Roosters. Chickens. Cows. When he started running out of ideas, he tried to remember the farms he’d seen in the movies, but all it did was make him tired and before long he started to doze.
A breeze rolled across Alex’s left shoulder and all of a sudden he was back in the car. Eva’s mouth close to his ear. Her breath warm on his skin. The way she moved as his fingertips caressed the silk…
Something small bounced off the top of the bench. And Alex felt it.
He looked at the sunflower lying face up on the bench and picked it up and placed it gently into his left palm. He ran his finger around its circumference and knew instantly that it had thirty-four petals. Alex plucked one and rubbed it between thumb and forefinger and the silkiness of it brought him right back to Eva. His face flushed. He remembered her mouth. The way she tasted. The way she moaned. The warmth of her mound and how his touch made her shudder…
The flower moved and tickled his palm and Alex jumped to his feet and jerked his hand away as if he just discovered he’d been holding a tarantula.
He stood there looking at it, its petals twitching harmlessly in the breeze. His heart pounded. He felt pollen residue on his hand and so he wiped it against his jeans. But the feeling wouldn’t go away. He wiped and wiped and spit on his hand and wiped some more but no matter what he did it still felt like he was holding a sunflower.
Alex stared at his palm. Was this it? Was this how it started? A smile slowly formed on his face. He quit focusing on his hand and immediately became aware of a connection at the back of his mind. And although the feeling was foreign, he knew— knew —that what he was sensing was the very essence of the flower.
He looked left and right and when he was sure he was alone he took a deep breath and faced the bench. He held out his hand so that his palm faced the sky and began opening and closing his fingers. The petals did the same. They felt like his fingers. Or maybe his fingers felt like petals. He didn’t know and he didn’t care. He wiggled his digits slowly and then quickly and again the petals did the same. Alex laughed. Whatever trepidation he felt in the lab was gone. He wished he could have been doing this his whole life.
He wanted to make it float. Alex clenched his jaw and imagined his hand slipping under the flower and it started floating, up and up until he stopped it at eye level. He traced his mind around the edge of the petals and the sunflower began to spin. A beautiful, frictionless spin.
Alex considered grabbing his phone but he didn’t want to risk losing focus. Instead he looked over the hedge and spotted another sunflower and with a bit of effort plucked it from its stem and made it float into position so he had two flowers side by side, their petals meshing in the middle like gears in a machine. They continued like this until one of the petals
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