River: A Novel by Erin Lewis Page A

was frightening, however. I always
wanted to get out of there.
      You
okay? Danny’s signing broke the thread of my
daydreams. At least I had that phrase down—he asked it every ten minutes. 
     I nodded. As
Dan finished making coffee, soothing smells of caramel and chocolate wafted
toward me. I filled a cup eagerly, needing a fix. It was hot, and I patiently
set the mug down to cool, wrapping my hands around it to distract myself from the
curious look on Dan’s face. It was akin to a double entendre. He was waiting
for me to tell him I really was okay, but he also had a strange smile. I pulled
a recent memory from my mind. It was the Kissing Grin. 
     “Why are
you looking at me like that?” The grin got bigger. “Daniel Jerret Thaskey . What did
you do?” My voice became squeakier as I scolded him. 
     Eyes wide
with innocence, he shook his head quickly and pointed to his chest as if to
say: Not me! Corroborating my assumption, he signed with gusto, which made
me think he was enjoying my predicament.
     It
wasn’t me, it was you.
     My self
esteem got a quick nod that I understood, and then the potential embarrassment
kicked in. “What happened?” I asked in such a way that almost dared him to tell
me. My unconscious life was apparently just as eventful as when I was wide
awake. He grabbed the paper and started writing vigorously, too impatient to
wait for me to interpret his signs. I flushed after catching a couple of words.
     Dan’s grin
was back as he turned the paper toward me. Leisurely, I plucked it off the
table, praying it wasn’t too bad. Or at least that I had been fully clothed
during the episode rapidly unfolding in my imagination. My eyes found the page
reluctantly.
     I waited for
you to come out, but then assumed you had fallen asleep, so I rested my eyes. All
of a sudden, you were shaking me awake and signing that I was talking to you. You
signed perfectly that you had fallen at the edge of River near the Domain—that
someone was after you because of the whole thing with Petra. I signed back that
you have been here the last few days with me, and you could speak. You acted as
though you didn’t know what I was going on
about just before you hit me. Then you kissed me on the cheek. After
that, you passed out . By the way, my
full name here is
Daniel John Hampshire .
     “ Where did I hit you?”  
     His smile
turned into a lopsided smirk as he wrote, obviously wanting some payback for
his pains.
    First one was in the arm, then my
jaw. That one hurt, until—you know . 
       He dramatically tapped his scruffy
cheek, full grin in place.
     “I’m sorry,
but I don’t remember any of this,” I waved the paper in the air, trying to make
the kissing aspect of the conversation become forgotten. “I must’ve been
sleepwalking.” After reading it again, the strange feeling of déjà vu returned.
“You wrote that I signed… perfectly?”  He nodded, calculating, trying to figure
me out. Well, I was doing the same. 
     “I don’t
understand. How could I sign in my sleep if I can barely do it coherently awake?” 
Danny just shrugged. He could see that I wasn’t going to give up the paper he
had written on, and I did want to decipher it some more. Something about
falling was familiar to me, like an impression or a glance, something in my
residual memory that I needed to dig up, along with the rest of my possible past.
I froze with the paper tightly fisted in my hands. The dreams.
     Another
piece of paper was placed on top of the old, breaking my concentration. I
didn’t even hear Danny get out of his chair to stand behind me.  
    Maybe when you
sleep, something happens in your brain that triggers memories, but that still
doesn’t explain why you can speak. Orwhy you
hit me.
     Though
still facing the table, I was completely certain he was smiling ear to ear
because of that last line. 
     “Danny, I’m
sorry I hit you. Really. But I don’t know whyI can speak here. I’m
just as