Into The Light: chapter 2
Bruno wakes to an aroma like every family dinner he ever sat through in secret with an empty painted plate in front of him, biting his cheeks to keep himself quiet.
Saliva pools in his mouth. He swallows it down painfully. He begins to hum tunelessly to distract himself, but stops, because Dolores is bound to hear, and if she guesses he has nothing to eat, she might tell someone where he is. He needs to be strong.
He buries his face in the wing of his armchair.
āBruno?ā It sounds like Julieta. But Julieta doesnāt say his name, not in front of the whole family. Itās his mind playing tricks again.
Heās been getting worse lately, heās pretty sure. Heās seen birds and animals that were never there. A painting on his wall that was really upstairs. His camp stove, long since out of fuel, standing up and shaking its feet. Heās heard voices talking nonsense in languages he doesnāt know. Or his family, sometimes telling him comforting things, sometimes the opposite.
Now hereās Julieta, as if the smell through the cracks could waft her through the wall. He canāt see her ā he wonāt look ā but she feels so close that his skin prickles. She seems to bend over him, saying, āArenāt you hungry?ā
Heās hollow. Heās trembling. But heās used to that. He squeezes his infected fingertip, to let the pain distract him.
āBruno? I have some supper for you.ā
āGo away. Let me sleep.ā Thatās the best thing he can do, because he wonāt be getting a meal tonight.
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