Gather the Sentient by Amalie Jahn Read Free Book Online

apparel in my size, thank you for asking,” she said finally.  “I was actually more interested in making sure my luggage is large enough to hold a week’s worth of clothes.”
    Her mother scoffed.  “Well, it’s certainly big enough to hold a week’s worth of my clothes,” she said.  “But if all yours don’t fit, you’re welcome to borrow your father’s bag.  His is considerably larger.”
    She thanked her mother for her generous offer and watched her retreat down the hall before returning to her closet.  Moments later, as she selected a teal dress, holding it across her hips to confirm it still fit, the periphery of her eyesight began to grow cloudy.  She prepared herself for what she knew was about to happen, managing to take a step backward toward her bed before the vision overtook her.  She wondered whose life she would be observing this time.  A neighbor?  A classmate?  A random stranger?
    It turned out to be someone else entirely, and as her sight cleared she found herself in a relatively familiar place.  Familiar, not because she’d physically been to the location but because she’d witnessed the man seated at the piano in this living room many times over the years.
    He was young and attractive and distinctly American, in both his speech and his mannerisms.  As she entered the vision now, he was playing an upbeat selection she didn’t recognize but was excited to continue listening to just the same.  She settled in, enjoying her private concert; just she and the man she’d dubbed ‘Billy Joel’ since he was the only real piano man she knew.
    As she watched his fingers fly across the keys she recalled the first time she’d witnessed his abilities.  He’d been a sullen child in those days, and she as well.  Another time, another house, another piano.
    Same boy.
    Her visions of him had been increasing during recent months, and she wondered if there was a reason behind the surge.  She certainly wasn’t complaining.  Far better to enjoy being serenaded than ridiculed or ostracized when other’s thought she couldn’t hear them.  She never knew when a vision was going to be pleasant or distressing, and sadly, for most of her life, the scenes she encountered were more nightmare than daydream – one of the worst being the day she witnessed a girl she considered her best friend calling her a beached whale while laughing with other classmates about her size.
    There was less ugliness in her visions these days and she was grateful.  Listening to the man’s performance brought her peace, welcome respite from her mother’s constant disparagement and her father’s seeming indifference.  As the vision ended and she pulled back into her physical self, the image of the man and the piano fading, she had the sudden inclination to thank him for being a part of her life.  It seemed silly and perhaps unrealistic, but there was no denying the beauty he’d infused into her woefully glum existence.
    Maybe someday , she thought.  Maybe someday I’ll even learn your name.

 
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER
    7
     
    JOSE

     
    Monday, August 29
    Phoenix
     
    “I’m scared, Dad,” the sandy-haired boy whispered from his prone position on the gurney.  His worried father walked beside him, clutching the boy’s hand which peeked out from beneath the thin sheet draped across his torso.
    “You’re gonna be fine,” he responded, glancing at Jose for validation.
    Jose stopped just beyond the nurses’ station and pressed the button to call the elevator to take them to radiology.  “Oh, yeah,” he confirmed.  “You’re gonna be better than fine.  We get half a dozen broken bones through here every day, so they get lots of practice putting legs back together.  I bet they’ll have yours fixed up in no time.”  The elevator doors opened, and he wheeled the boy inside, carefully maneuvering over the gap in the floor so as not to cause any pain.  “I broke my arm in seventh grade and had it x-rayed