The Sphere by Martha Faë Read Free Book Online Page B

over it to find the switch. A dim light illuminates the inside of the car. I’m on the passenger side. I point the light at the other seat and jump back, hitting my head, cutting myself off mid-scream. The seatbelt on the driver’s side is fastened, but the seat is empty.
    Thoughts pound inside my head; my mind races. Carl could have been thrown clear from the impact. I get out of the car and try taking a couple of deep breaths to calm down. What if he’s lying around here somewhere? I should go look for him, but where? I lean on the tire so I can look inside the car with the flashlight, more out of hope than logic. The seatbelt is fastened. Carl isn’t there.
    ‘Aaaaaaaaah!”
    I scream until it feels like my lungs will burst. I know I’m screaming, but I can’t hear my own voice.
    It’s a joke. It has to be, it’s the only possible explanation. I go through my entire vocabulary and can’t find a single word strong enough to express my feelings about what Carl has done. The fact that he went off and left me lying there makes me so angry I can’t breathe, but I don’t understand why he came back to fasten the seatbelt... Asshole... That’s too nice, it sounds like a compliment. What if he’s hiding somewhere and laughing at me? I won’t give him the pleasure. I start walking, indignation burning in my belly. I don’t even know which direction St Andrews is in. I hold the flashlight out in front of me, hoping my internal compass will guide me. I just put one foot in front of the other as I make my way through this deathly silence. I don’t know how long I walk for, and it hardly matters. All I can think about is what Carl did to me.
    Finally the first streetlamp appears, its weak light struggling against the thick fog. There’s a rugby field to my left; my internal compass has been working. The ocean must be a little farther that way. I have to keep walking. I’m in the west part of St Andrews, and I need to head east. I’ve got a long walk ahead of me, but at least I know I can get back to our rental house. Little by little the repellent image of Carl fades from my memory.
    I can see the harbor now. I’m nearly home. In no time I’ll reach the little stream that runs parallel to the street. Here it is, and there’s my family. That’s where they should be... Okay, this is the stream, here’s the little bridge... Where’s my house? I lean against the stone wall of the bridge, my hands trembling, my whole body beginning to shake.
    St Andrews ends here.
    There aren’t any buildings beyond the bridge. Only trees and tall grass where my house ought to be.
    I look down. The water in the stream sketches gray waves, but there isn’t any sound. I must have lost my hearing temporarily. I must be disoriented, that’s all. I have to calm down. I slap myself, stopping the angry tears that are threatening to spill over.
    I stand perfectly still, a pillar of salt. As if the solidity of my own body could crumble away as easily as the physical reality that I seem to have lost.
    I’m not disoriented. This is St Andrews, and this is the place where the summer house my parents rented should be.
    I refuse to fall for all this nonsense. I’ll go to sleep, this nightmare of a night will pass, and everything will go back to normal. I turn toward the western part of St Andrews and make up my mind to go to the Old Course. Just out front is the luxury hotel where my aunt and uncle are staying. I don’t even have to spend the night; there’s no need to put up with my cousins. I just have to get them to call my parents so they can come get me. That’s it. They’ll call, my parents will come, I’ll put up with it when they chew me out, and tomorrow it will all be over. When I wake up I’ll be able to hear again, and all this nonsense will be nothing but a bad memory.
    I walk along Market Street and stop dead in front of the supermarket. Where is it? It simply isn’t there. In its place are two small houses. I walk for a