This photo of Stauffer Lake, Saskatchewan, was taken by Theodore Garver and is used in accordance with his Creative Commons License.
In the previous chapter, Aurora and Polk fight off Salvadore and his weird influences in the abandoned general store, and hide from the dark figure as he arrives in his big rig made of crows. As the dark figure drags Salvadore away and heads south on the road, Aurora and Polk have no choice but to strike out into the open countryside. Read on to find out what awaits them there.
The Dream King's Daughter - Chapter Five: As the Crow Flies
Aurora slammed into dreams every time she looked a classmate in the eye. By the end of the first week, she was sick with it. At recess, she sat in a window well at the base of the school, rolling a tennis ball between her feet. Laughter echoed around her. Roger and his muscle stumbled into view, cackling as they wrestled, staggering close to Aurora. She looked away.
Roger righted himself and shoved his friends away. They darted off, laughing. Roger leered at her. Aurora kept her gaze on the ground. When he ran off, Aurora glared at his back. Then she went back to kicking the tennis ball between her feet.
"Hey!" The sound of Albijana's aggrieved voice made Aurora look up.
At the school gate, Albijana stood trembling with frustration as Roger turned her red rubber ball over in his hands.
"Cool ball," he said, twisting out of her reach. "I bet if you bounce it really hard, it could go really high."
"Give it back!" Albijana wailed.
"Just let me test it." Roger pretended to bounce the ball on the ground, then hauled back and tossed it with all his might. It sailed high into the air, clearing the third-story windows of the school before disappearing above the roofline.
Roger grinned at Albijana. "Yup. It goes really high."
His friends laughed. Albijana stood rigid, fists clenched. Then she said something in Arabic. One of her friends heard it and gasped.
Roger sneered at her. "Out of my way, you little monkey."
People stopped and stared, but Roger pushed past Albijana and walked away. The girl turned and walked to the school wall, her shoulders slumped and her head down. She walked right up to Aurora without looking up, and would have bumped into her if Aurora hadn't cleared her throat.
Albijana jumped back. "I'm sorry!"
Aurora gave her a small smile. "It's okay." She shifted over to one side of the window well, making room. Albijana hesitated, then sat down on the concrete sill.
"Talk to a caretaker," said Aurora. "He can go to the roof and get it."
Albijana sniffed. "Okay."
They waited in silence for the school bell to ring.
Aurora looked at Albijana's light brown skin and long, dark hair. "Did they bomb your country?"
Albijana looked at her sharply.
Aurora swallowed. "I just... I read--"
"Yes," said Albijana, her eyes dark. Aurora shook the sound of air raid sirens out of her head.
"Why?" Albijana asked.
"I just-- I mean, I wanted to know-- You seemed-- It's--"
Albijana turned away. "Yes," she said again. "I hate it. I hate them."
"But you're safe here," said Aurora quietly.
Albijana shook her head. She picked up a pebble and turned it around in her fingers. "They're in my dreams. The bombs. The soldiers. Everybody running away. They won't stop."
Silence stretched.
"You know," said Aurora carefully. "It is... just... a dream."
"It's not a dream!" Albijana threw the stone to the ground. "It's not! It happened! It..." Her voice trailed off and she bit her lip.
"I know it happened," said Aurora quickly. "But when you go back in your dreams, it's still a dream. It's not real in your dreams."
"It feels real." Albijana tossed the pebble aside. "They say... if you die in your dreams, you die in real life."
"But... you don't have to do what the dreams tell you to do."
Albijana frowned at her, but she didn't turn away.
"Look," said Aurora, "My mother knows dreams. She says they're all the same; they take place in your head. It's all a part of your imagination. Well, we use our imagination all the time, right? We play rocket ships on the monkey bars. We play Fortress on the playground equipment. If we can make things into other things in our imagination, so, why not in our dreams?"
Albijana's brow furrowed.
"Try it," said Aurora. "Tell your dreams that you won't dream this anymore. Tell your dreams that you're taking over and doing what you want."
The school bell rang. Albijana stood up, still frowning. She walked to the doors without looking back.
#
Aurora and Polk decided to explore the abandoned store, first.
The screen door came off its hinges when Polk pulled on it. Inside, they covered their mouths and noses at the overpowering smell of mildew. Sunlight fell in shafts from gaps in the boards hammered over the windows. The floor was white, except for the dark footprints Aurora and Salvadore had left behind in the dust.
Aurora picked up a package of licorice off its display rack, sniffed it, then smacked it against the cash counter. The licorice shattered into a million pieces.
"There's nothing here." She tossed the rest of the package aside.
"There's got to be something." Polk blew a cloud of dust off a can of beans and turned it in his hands before holding it out to her. "See? This doesn't expire for another month."
"Oh, goody."
Aurora wandered around the store, raising clouds of dust. The cash register was open, its display showing a tab marked "No Sale". The drawer was empty. Then her foot hit something beneath the cash register. It was a cardboard pallet half full of water bottles.
She knelt down. "Polk! Over here!"
Polk rushed over and did a little shuffle of triumph. "Great! That's exactly what I was hoping for." He picked up a bottle, peered at it, and shook it. "Looks okay." He tossed her one.
She caught it, unscrewed the cap and took a swig, which became a chug. She gulped down the water and tossed the empty bottle aside, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "It's good," she said.
"Worth looking around after all?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Polk's grin faded. "How on earth are we going to carry all this?"
They found a dusty canvas bag tucked in the drawer under the broken cash register. They packed all the water they could into it. This filled the bag halfway and they were still able to carry it. Then they argued over the beans.
"They're useless, heavy, and frankly disgusting," said Aurora, her hands on her hips, wrinkling her nose as Polk waved a can in front of her.
"We're going to have to eat too, you know."
"I'll wait."
"You'll starve."
"I'm not going to starve!"
Polk heaved a long-suffering sigh.
She snatched the canvas bag. "Okay, you want beans? Have some beans!" She shoved an entire shelf full of cans into the canvas bag and handed it to him. Polk took the bag and dropped it on his foot.
Aurora stood with arms folded as Polk hopped about.
He rubbed his toe. "Thanks a million!" He dug into the bag and plunked half the cans back on the shelf. He hefted the bag in front of her. "Compromise?"
She weighed it in her hand. "You promise to carry this whenever I get tired?"
"Sure."
"Deal."
They picked up a can opener and plastic spoons from the housewares aisle and headed for the front door. At the front stood a rack of baseball caps. Polk picked one up and blew off a cloud of dust that made Aurora choke. He picked up another, beat the dust off against his pant leg, and handed it to her.
Aurora sneered at it. It was a denim cap with the Playboy logo on it. "I'm not wearing that!"
"In this weather, it's that or sunstroke."
Aurora grabbed the cap and tossed it away. She flipped through the rack and found a white cap with a Baltimore Ravens football logo on it. She beat the dust off and pulled it on.
Polk pulled on his hat. It was black and had the initials N.Y.P.D. stitched across it. "Ready?"
Aurora looked out the door at the wide, rolling landscape, and was struck again with the sense of being one of the last two humans in existence. The air in the store was heating up as fast as an oven. Outside, heat waves quivered above the ground.
Out in that with only beans and water? What the hell am I doing?
And what the hell am I doing getting Polk involved?
Polk turned to step outside, but she grabbed the doorframe, blocking him. He frowned at her. "What?"
"Where do you think you're going?"
He looked from her to the road and back again. "Saskatoon, like you said." He drew back from her, and his frown deepened. "With you."
Aurora stepped into the sunlight and gripped both sides of the door frame. "You don't have to." She pushed out her words. "If Matron's right, and it's me they're after, then you could just walk away, and be safe. So, why don't you be safe? As long as you're next to me, they're after you as well."
He shook his head. "No way. You're going to hike in a Saskatchewan heat wave? Miles from anywhere? That's insane! You might as well walk the Sahara."
"It's not that bad!"
"Is too!"
"Polk, don't go all Prince Charming on me. You don't have the looks, and you don't have the sword. This is between me and whoever is following me."
He reddened. "'Prince Charming'? Is that why you think I'm doing this? You want me to walk away while you face it all alone? You're insane! How can you think I'd do that, to anyone?"
"You could go see if Matron's all right," she said quietly.
They both winced. It was cruel to say that, but it needed saying. With the dark man focused on her, Matron could be okay for all they knew. But they didn't know. And Polk would want to know at least as much as she did.
He stood a long minute, his eyes closed. Then he looked up and looked her in the eye.
Polk walks through the wheat, his heart beating faster.
Aurora blinked the dream away and focused on Polk's forehead.
He took a deep breath. "I'm. Coming. With. You." He gave a final nod.
Aurora couldn't help smiling. "Okay. Thanks." She let go of the door frame. "Let's go."
"I'd bake in Prince Charming's armour, anyway," he muttered. He pulled the cloth straps of the canvas sack over each shoulder and wore the bag like a backpack.
They sauntered down the steps, walked back to the crest of the hill and stood looking down the road. The wind was still. The sun beat down from halfway up the eastern horizon. The sky had opened into a crystal-clear cornflower blue.
Polk shaded his eyes. They strained to peer at the road's vanishing point. Then Aurora saw it: a black speck in the sky, circling above the road. She strained her ears and heard the faint cry of crows.
"They're guarding the road."
"That could be anything," said Polk. But he took a step back.
"They're guarding the road. It's what I'd do."
"So ... what?"
Aurora watched the distant crows. "Let's follow the creek."
#
They followed the muddy bank. The sun rose higher and the shadows disappeared. Their pace slowed. Aurora pulled off her cap and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
In the silence, her mind tumbled. Why me, she thought. What do they want with me?
"You okay?" Polk's voice derailed her train of thought.
"What?"
"You're not watching where you're going." He was holding her by the elbow, guiding her away from the stream.
She sighed. "Why are they chasing me, Polk?"
"Um... Maybe you shouldn't think about that too hard. Maybe focus on walking through this heat instead?"
"But, it makes no sense." Aurora looked back. "Maybe I should go back and ask them."
"Yeah. Maybe they can help you pick out a good fabric for your sacrificial robe."
"Maybe if it's something I could give them, they'd stop--"
Matron's words echoed in her head. You can't let him take you, girl! It'll be disaster if he does! Whatever it was they wanted, it was no small thing.
"But why me?" She grimaced at the whine she heard in her voice. "I mean, trying to grab me in my dreams? Attacking us with crows and plastic bags?"
Polk nodded. "It seems a lot just to grab some young waitress, especially when there are plenty of prettier ones out there-- ow!"
He staggered back from her punch to his shoulder and planted his foot in the stream. He shook it out. "Great. Thanks."
"You're welcome."
He walked on with a step, shake-water-off, step, shake-water-off, step. Aurora stifled a laugh.
Polk's right, though, she thought. A fifteen -- almost sixteen -- year old waitress in some remote corner of Saskatchewan? It was ludicrous. What's so special about me--
She stopped in her tracks. Oh, yeah. The dream thing.
Polk stopped and turned back. "Aurora?"
The dream thing. That had to be it. It was the only thing that marks me off as special. But how could they know? I hadn't told anyone about my abilities, not outright. And the one person who'd experienced them -- she flinched at the memory -- was hardly in any condition to tell anyone.
But Mom knew.
"Get stuck in the mud?" Polk grinned. "Hey, are you okay?"
She drew her breath in. Her hands clenched into fists. "Damn it!" she yelled. Starlings burst out of the flowers and into the sky.
Polk whirled, looking for attackers rushing towards them. "I thought we were supposed to be in hiding!"
Aurora stomped her feet. "She knew! My mom knew! She shoved me here; she played with my memory to keep me 'safe.' She knew I was special enough that somebody wanted me, and she damn well never told me!"
Polk let the canvas bag slip from his shoulders. "Aurora, calm down."
She balled her hands into fists. She clenched her jaw shut and took a cleansing breath.
Then her mind caught up to her mouth. She looked up at Polk, horrified. She'd been reckless.
"Aurora? What's wrong?" His sardonic smile was gone.
But this was Polk. Her best friend in Cooper's Corners. The only person who'd made the place bearable. And he'd walked with her this far.
"I know why they're after me, Polk," she said. "I've never told anybody this before, but I can see people's dreams."
There was a long moment of silence. Polk stared at her. Aurora stared back, waiting. She tried again. "I mean, I can see what people are dreaming when I look them in the eye."
His eyes flickered aside, but he still said nothing.
"Have you gotten through your wheatfield yet?"
"Oh, crap!" He lunged away from her, covering his eyes. "Does privacy mean nothing to you?"
"I can't help it!" she yelled. "I can't control it. It just happens."
He lowered his hand and looked at her warily. "Oh." Then, more seriously, "Oh! That can not be fun."
She threw up her hands. "Tell me about it. For the past three years, I've wanted to punch Jake Ransom's face in. That's what I like about your dreams, Polk: I don't feel the need to take a shower after."
He straightened up, but still kept his gaze just out of eye contact. "Oh... Okay. I'll take that as a compliment. I think. How long have you... been able to do this?"
"Since my first period."
He ducked his head. "Too much information!"
"Hey, you asked!"
He shook his head, looking stunned. "So, you can see people's dreams. That's... neat, I guess." He caught her look. "Or, maybe not. How do you know that's why they're after you?"
"They're attacking me in dreams, and I can read dreams, that isn't enough of a connection?" She continued more quietly. "My mom knew something. She knew that people were after me, and she sent me here, to live with Aunt Matron."
"I always thought you were an orphan."
"I might as well be. She played with my memories to keep me here. Tried to make me forget my life in Winnipeg." She clenched her fists. "Polk, this is important. Tell me how you know me. How long have you known me?"
"Uh..." Polk opened his mouth, then closed it. "Three years. Aurora, this is too weird for me. Do we really have to talk about this out here--?"
"Three years?" Aurora echoed. "Not twelve or fifteen? I look at you and I say to myself, this is a boy I grew up with; from the moment we got up and toddled around. This is a boy I went to kindergarten with. But only the last three years have been real."
She realized, with a sudden jerk of her heart, that she felt robbed to be losing those memories of Polk.
"You came... to live with us... three years ago," said Polk at last, thinking hard and choosing his words with care. "Matron told me you were an orphan and that we were taking you in. She told me not to talk about your mother... because it was too painful for you."
"Or it could have brought the memories back." She looked up at him, marvelling that, for three years, this secret hadn't slipped out. Polk hadn't once said something like, 'Hey, you remember when you came to Cooper's Corners, three years ago?'
"Maybe they played with your memories too," she said.
"You'd think I'd remember that."
She shook her head. His grin faded.
"That's got to be it," she said. "It's the only thing that makes me special. They want me because I can see into people's dreams."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Matron did everything she could to make sure I didn't find out. Maybe this person in Saskatoon can tell me." She set her teeth. "I can't believe my Mom wouldn't tell me!"
"Okay," said Polk. "My next big question: what exactly can we do with this information out here where we are?"
Aurora looked around, at the meandering strip of mud that passed for a creek, at the sea of brush and flowers that stretched to the horizon, at the blue dome of the sky. Her shoulders sagged. "Nothing. Let's keep going." She pushed past Polk.
He shrugged on the canvas bag and fell into step beside her, but she hardly noticed him.
Mom knew about me. The words rolled around in her head. She knew.
#
The sun rose too high for the creek's shallow banks to provide any shade. They trudged on. Aurora noticed they were approaching a low ridge running along the northeastern horizon. As they rounded a bend in the stream, they saw that the ridge crossed the creek, with a bridge that looked like a platform on stilts.
Aurora squinted at it. "That's too small to be a road bridge."
"Maybe it's a cattle crossing or something," said Polk.
There were no farmhouses in sight. The only structures were the bridge, the ridge (which didn't look natural), and a line of power poles stretching into the distance.
Polk staggered.
Aurora frowned at him. "You wait here. I'll take a look around."
Leaving Polk puffing beside the creek, Aurora clawed her way up the embankment and poked her head above the bridge, feeling like a prairie dog peering out from its den. Her vision was blocked by a low wall of iron. She craned her head higher and saw that the low wall was actually a rail. Two ribbons of rusted steel curved away in either direction, drawing together as they reached the vanishing point.
"Huh," she said and ducked down.
"It's a rail line," she called to Polk. "And it's heading south."
Polk looked up from where he sat slumped on the bank. "So?"
She looked up and down the run of the creek. "The creek was heading east," she said, "and now it's heading north-east. Saskatoon's south, so we're moving away from where we want to go." Then she focused on Polk. "Are you okay?"
He looked up at her, breathing heavily. "Me? I'm fine! Fine. So, east or south?"
Sweat cut lines in the dust on his face. His white t-shirt was grey and soggy. Aurora's frown deepened as she came down the embankment. "You want me to carry the bag?"
"What?" He straightened up sharply. "No, I can handle it. Come on! Let's keep moving."
"I'd like some water, please."
Polk sagged with relief and slipped the cloth straps off his shoulders. He rummaged through the sack and brought out two bottles. He handed her one and twisted the cap off the other.
"Hey." She caught him with the bottle halfway to his mouth. "Drink slowly. Don't choke yourself."
They both drank. Then stood looking at each other, casting tempted glances at the sack full of water, but decided to save it for later. Polk hefted the straps over his shoulders.
"You want me to carry that?" asked Aurora. "It's been a couple of hours."
"I'm fine. I'm here to help, you know." He grinned at her. "I swore to protect you."
Aurora rolled her eyes.
"I did! Placed my hand on the Good Book and everything! Anybody who comes after you has to get through me first. I also carry your bags."
"C'mon Polk, it's been hours. I should take a turn too."
"I said, I'm okay!" He slipped and fell forward. One of the cans rolled out of the bag and thwacked him in the back of his head. "Ow!"
Aurora scrambled over and caught the bag before more of its contents could spill onto Polk. He looked up at her, dazed. "Okay," he said. "You can carry it a bit."
They followed the tracks south. The rails were rusted, but the gravel was well-groomed. Walking from tie to tie, they picked up the pace. Aurora puffed with the canvas sack on her back. How had Polk managed to carry this the entire morning? Sometimes, it felt as though she could point her toes, and it would drive her into the ground like a nail.
She let her hands drop to her sides. Her left hand brushed against Polk's. Their hands jerked apart as though they'd felt a shock. On they plodded. The ribbons of iron shimmered, making Aurora think of water. Again, her hand brushed Polk's. This time they didn't pull away. After a moment, she took his hand. Polk gave it a squeeze. They brought their heads down and pushed forward.
The afternoon disappeared into a haze of heat.
As the sun set, and they ambled around a curve on the rail embankment, the land ahead dropped away. They looked out on rolling scrublands full of grass and flowers. Aurora groaned at the sight of mile after mile of unpaved ground. Damn nature!
But as she took a few more steps, and more of the landscape pulled into view, her breath caught.
At first sh,e thought it was another mirage. But as she walked, she could see this was no mirage. The sun glittered on a sparkling mirror, a slough of water that stretched out in a circle a hundred metres wide, reflecting so brightly that they had to shield their eyes.
Aurora stopped. Polk stopped too. They stood there, breathing hard, transfixed by the glittering water, but too tired to move or speak.
"Ooo, that's sooo tempting," Aurora moaned at last.
"Yeah," said Polk.
She looked up at him. "Want a swim?"
He thought about it. "Aren't we supposed to be on the run?"
They looked at the slough and then at each other. Sweat beaded on their faces and trickled down their necks. Aurora's t-shirt was stained and sticking to her. And it had been eight hours since they'd seen anything resembling a crow.
She shrugged off the canvas bag and dropped it beside the rails. Polk broke into a grin. "Last one in is a rotten egg!"
Aurora tripped him, sending him sprawling on the embankment. She dashed for the pond, kicking off her shoes, jumping out of her jeans, and stripping down to her underwear. She danced out of her socks just in time to splash into the water. Polk stomped after her but stopped when he saw her jeans fly past him and land in the grass.
Aurora surfaced, gasping, delighting at the prickle of goosebumps. She looked around and saw Polk on the bank, staring at her with his mouth open.
"What?" she called. "Aren't you coming in?"
"You--" He gestured at her shirt and jeans lying on the bank.
"Don't be silly! I'm wearing underwear." But to her horror, she felt herself beginning to blush.
"But..." He waved his hands.
"Well, I'm sorry!" She walked backwards deeper into the water until she was a head bobbing on top of its own reflection. "In our mad dash to escape, I somehow forgot to pack our swimsuits. Look, it's not like my underwear shows anything more. At least this way, you don't have to look the other way while I change into a bikini. Now, are you coming in, or what?"
Polk hesitated. Then he whooped and pulled off his pants, shoes and shirt. Aurora laughed. Polk dove into the water with a huge splash.
They swam lengths. Aurora took a few minutes to wash the mud, sweat and abandoned bathroom smell from her jeans and t-shirt, spreading them out to dry on the flowers. They spent the next half hour splashing each other, playing tag, before finally collapsing by the water's edge, gazing up at the sky as the water lapped around them.
"We needed that," said Aurora at last.
"Yeah. We did." Polk sat up, sloshing water over her. "Let's eat."
She struggled to sit up. "Give me a hand here."
He clasped her hand. "Sure. Come on." He hauled her to her feet.
They slipped on the muddy bottom. Aurora teetered, her free arm cartwheeling. Polk staggered but caught her, one hand clasped around her side. Aurora's breath caught. She'd never realized just how strong he was. They stood a moment, staring at each other, their faces dangerously close.
She saw Polk's gaze run quickly up and down her body, then plant itself at a safe spot somewhere by her right ear. His cheeks glowed red. To her disgust, she was blushing furiously too.
Polk coughed. "Um..."
"Don't let go yet!" she snapped. She was still balanced precariously on one foot, and Polk was taking her weight. She staggered fully upright. Then she cleared her throat, and nodded curtly. "You can let go now. Thanks."
"You're welcome."
They turned their backs on each other and ran for their clothes.
Aurora felt more comfortable once she'd pulled on her jeans and shirt. They were stained and still a bit damp, but smelled okay. They worked together to sort out the canvas sack and hand each other water bottles. Sitting on the embankment below the tracks, they had a dinner of cold beans. The sun set. The sky darkened, and the stars came out.
"So, I guess we're stopping here for the night?" Aurora rubbed the knots out of her legs.
"You want to wander around in the dark? Besides, we need our sleep."
"Yeah." Aurora lay back and looked up at the sky again, and was startled at the number of stars she saw. The sky hardly had room enough for them all. "Wow," she breathed. "There really is a Milky Way."
She had spent almost three years in Cooper's Corners, but with a lifetime of experience, she had already seen all the stars and grown tired of them. Now she looked up at them with the eyes of a city girl who hadn't realized that the sky had depth. The universe was a lot bigger than she'd ever thought it could be.
"What are we going to do, Polk?" she said at last.
He rolled over in the dark and clasped her hand. "Don't worry--"
"I'm not talking about this chase. I'm talking about after."
"Can't we just go back... to Matron?"
"No," said Aurora. "Not after keeping me here with my fake memories."
"Find your mother, maybe?"
"If I can." But she shook her head. "Mom abandoned me. I lived the rest of my life in a lie. Like it or not, I'm on my own." She rolled away from him and rested her head on her arm. "There's no going back. The only way forward is forward."
They lay in silence as the twilight deepened. Finally, Aurora rolled back over and looked at Polk. "Do you have any dreams?"
"Only when I'm dreaming."
"You're always dreaming," said Aurora.
He frowned at her.
"Seriously. Everybody dreams in the daytime, and not just in daydreams. You only notice your dreams when you're asleep and your mind has nothing else to do. But the part of the mind that does the dreaming doesn't shut down. Everybody dreams, all the time."
Polk stared at her, eyebrows raised.
"Trust me," she said. "I know."
He gave her a lopsided grin. "If you say so."
He lingered on the grin, and she couldn't help blushing. The grassy embankment was bigger than all the beds in the world, but the thought of sharing it with him still gave her a strange thrill.
In her mind's eye, she slapped herself.
The moon rose. After a while, Aurora heard Polk snoring. She waited a moment longer, then scooched over on her back until her elbow touched his arm. She settled back with a contented sigh.
The wind brushes the wheat, rippling the tassels like surf.
Aurora blinked up at the sky. What had just happened?
She'd seen a dream. She'd seen Polk's dream, but she hadn't looked him in the eye.
Then she realized: this wasn't a dream at the back of his mind. This was what he was dreaming, right now. She'd picked it up like a radio.
She couldn't do that, could she?
Then again, until now, I'd never slept next to anyone in my life. Who knows what the effect could be?
The images swept over her again.
His feet scrunches on the gravel. His breathing catches. Polk reaches out to part the first stalks of wheat.
Aurora sat up, her chest heaving. She looked at Polk's back, wondering if she should move away. She didn't want to leave him, but this was... overwhelming and far more intimate than she'd ever expected.
Was this her future, when she was finally old enough to have serious relationships, to be battered by her lovers' dreams?
But as she hesitated, the images swept through her a third time, and she lost touch with the ground.
Polk walks through the wheat, his heart beating faster. He doesn't notice Aurora standing beside the path, staring at him as he passes.
Wait a minute, she thinks. She looks down at herself, at her arms. She pinches herself and raises a welt.
"What the hell?" she says.
Suddenly, Polk stands behind her. "What are you doing here?"
She whirls around. "I'm... sorry. I read dreams, remember?"
He's breathing heavily. His cheeks are red. "A little privacy, please?"
"I'll just go." She stumbles towards Matron's diner. The gravel scrunches underfoot.
"No!" Polk shouts. "Not that way!"
She opens the door, then stops, teetering, staring down into a pit.
The air fills with the screech of crows.
"Aurora!" Polk shouts, running to her, but too late. Aurora falls.
Sights and sounds bombard her. Memories.
...Polk slams through the diner door and tosses his schoolbooks aside. He turns to the stairs leading up to his room but stops to find Matron standing there.
"I've moved your stuff down here," she says.
He groans. "Aw, Matron!"
"She's here."
He stops mid-groan and looks into the living room. Aurora sits slouched on the battered couch, in her jeans and denim jacket. Her eyes are glazed, and she is flipping endlessly through the television channels on her remote.
"Go in and say 'hi'," says Matron.
Polk stares at Aurora. He braces himself and then walks into the living room.
She takes no notice of him. He settles in beside her and can't stop staring. She gives him the briefest glance.
"Um... hi," he says.
"Hi," she replies blandly and flicks to the next channel.
He looks at her another moment longer, then smiles. He settles back into the sofa and watches television...
...The air rushes past Aurora as she falls...
..."Swear it!" Matron shouts. "Lives count on you, boy. Don't let your parents down."
"But I don't want to," Polk moans. "I don't know her. I don't know who she is. Why should I care?"
Matron stands up. She says nothing. But Polk looks at her, then takes a breath. "I swear to protect her. I swear..."
...Aurora sinks further, lower...
...Matron is looking sad. Polk comes in and shows her the picture he's drawn, of her, cooking eggs on the grill. She smiles, then, and ruffles his hair...
...Down she falls...
..."Momma? Dadda?" Polk sobs.
Matron picks Polk up and hugs him to her shoulder. Her own shoulders quake. "I'm sorry, son. I'm so sorry!"...
...Further...
..."It'll be nice to have a friend to play with, won't it?" says his mother.
Polk looks up from the toy train engine he's playing with. He grins.
"I don't think he's figured it out," says his father.
They sit in the corner of the hospital waiting room, near the box of toys. Other figures sit and read magazines, dimming the sunlight that shines through the window.
"Would they be related?" asks his mother.
"Distantly," said his father. "At most cousins, I think. I don't understand human family connections."
There is a commotion at the end of the corridor. The people in the waiting room look up, then stand up.
The dark man bursts in. Aurora gasps to see him. His eyes shine. "They say her water's broke. The baby is coming. I'm going to be a dad."
He grins. He looks down and sees Polk, and picks him up. "I'm going be a dad!"
"You be da," Polk mimics.
The dark man swings Polk around, carrying him across the hospital waiting room while Polk made engine noises.
The dark man laughs. And Polk is laughing too. Laughing like a baby...
...Aurora grunts as she hits bottom--
Polk muttered in his sleep and rolled away, breaking the connection. Aurora was up on one elbow on the stubbled ground, her breathing ragged. She scrambled up and backed away from him, staring at his back and the moon shadow it cast.
Around her, the wind blew the smell of cold grass and loneliness.
She looked around. The land rolled away in moonlight. It was rugged, but at least she could see her way. Her legs were sore, but not so much she couldn't walk. And she didn't need to sleep. An hour or two was all she needed to make sure that he never found her. And then she could continue south to Saskatoon.
She picked up the bag of waterbottles, the cans and the can opener, taking care not to let the cans clunk together. After a moment's hesitation, she left two bottles behind Polk's back.
She cast one more glance at Polk's sleeping form.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. Then she turned away and set out away from the rail embankment, under the starry sky.