JACK KNIFED by Christopher Greyson Read Free Book Online

her presence. Was it only this morning that he saw her?
    Jack rolled over and kept his eyes open. The nightmares were bad enough before.
    What hell will I dream of tonight?

Guard The Door, George
    Jack lay on his back on the floor and tried to let everything go. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. The rise and fall of his chest slowed as he imagined himself sinking into the floor. His muscles relaxed, and he finally drifted into sleep.
     
    When Jack opened his eyes and looked around the room, it was a motel room but not the inn. It was the kind of motel he and his mother “lived in” when he was little. He looked down at his hands, and when he saw the Curious George doll clutched in them, he knew he must be dreaming. He hadn’t seen that doll since he was five.
    Jack set the doll down on the stained couch next to the front door and stared at the dangling chain.
    I remember this. This room. This…
    Jack could feel his heartbeat speed up. His breath came in little panicked puffs and his throat hurt. Fear seized him, and the nightmare ripped him back to that place, that time, and those feelings.
    He began to shake.
    I can’t lock the door, or she’ll be mad.
    His grumbling stomach made him turn and run back to the bathroom. The hot water in the sink was running. He grabbed the empty motel ice bucket and poured the last of the pasta in. He carefully covered his meal with hot water and shut off the faucet.
    I have to let it get mushy.
    Jack carefully set down the bucket and watched it. It was the last of the food in the motel room and, even though he was starving, he was scared to eat it.
    What if she doesn’t come back? What if she left me like she said she should? What’ll I eat next? I can’t leave the room, and there’s nothing else to eat.
    He rubbed his fingers through his hair and fought back tears of frustration. He stood up and pressed his back into the wall. He was almost panting and, when he looked down at his stomach, it seemed to leap with each terrified gulp of air. He closed his eyes and pounded his own leg.
    Jack waited until the pasta was mushy and poured the water out. It was very chewy and bland, but he forced himself to eat all of it and drink lots of water when he did. As he finished another glass, he groaned.
    I have to make sure I go pee a lot before bed. She just gave me my blanket back after my last accident.
    When he finished, he darted out of the bathroom and stopped. The room got darker. He looked up and George was gone from watching the door. A little girl sat on the couch and stared at him. Somehow, he knew she was waiting for his answer, but he didn’t know the question. He didn’t know the girl, either. She was small and had big blue eyes. Her blond hair was very dirty, but she had a bright pink ribbon in it.
    “I’m five.” He held his hand out, but she didn’t smile.
    She just waited and stared at him.
    Jack closed his eyes, but when he opened them, he was back in the institution. It was the room where he’d met his mother. The little girl sat across the table and stared at him.
    “Are you looking?” she whispered.
    “For what?”
    “You don’t get it, do you?” She tilted her head and swung her legs.
    “Don’t get what?” Jack slammed his hand down on the table, and then stared at his own hand in shock. It had changed. He wasn’t five anymore, but grown.
    When he looked up, the little girl held her arms against her chest and her lip trembled.
    “Kid…don’t cry.”
    “I’m five.” She held up her hand.
    Jack smiled. “What’s your name?”
    “Patty.”
     
    Jack’s eyes flew open, and he rolled over on the floor and found himself staring at the ceiling. He rubbed his throat and gulped for air as he fought to get control of his breathing. He knew the end of his dream wasn’t real, but he remembered the pasta. His mother had been gone for six days, but when she came home, she acted as if she’d only gone out to the store.
    From the amount of