He was startled, entering his room, to see Erin already moving, as if independent of his perception. He briefly discerned her movement as incremental — not continuous, but in frames per second — and, like with insects or large predators, unpredictable and dangerous. He wanted to move backward and close the door and be alone again, in the bathroom, but Erin had already noticed him and, after a pause, distracted by her attention, he reciprocated her approach. They hugged a little, near the center of the room, then he turned around and moved toward the kitchen — dimly aware of the existence of other places, on Earth, where he could go — and was surprised when he heard himself, looking at his feet stepping into black sandals, say that he felt “grateful to be alive.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to my editor, Tim O’Connell, and my agent, Bill Clegg.