Page 47 of Double Bucked

My steady, predictable James.

I close my eyes. “I just want to sleep.”

His breath is warm on my forehead as he lands a kiss there. He takes an earbud from his ear and slips it into my own. A droll, British voice informs me of flora and fauna that will never see this earth again, and I’m out before the meteor hits.

13

CLAIRE

She’s here. The Belleflower Queen.

The Kentucky sun beats down on the crowd as we part like a wave to accept her. The float rolls down Main Street, painted in striking colors with large reliefs of flowers on the sides. Statues of horses rise like figureheads around the bow of the float, their hooves lifted in a strong gallop.

As the float gets closer, the crowd pushes in from either side. Everyone wants to get a rose. My heart catches in my throat. I’m small and too short. When I get nudged forward, I can’t see a thing.

I lift my arms. “Daddy!”

The sun has turned him into a silhouette. He turns away.

“Please!”

He ignores me. His jaw goes tight.

“C’mere, little one.”

Strong hands fit under my arms. My father’s friend, Dagney, lifts me, settling me onto his shoulders.

Tall now, I can finally see.

The men in horse heads around the rim of the float unsettle me. I rear back was one tries to shove a plastic flower at me.

But then she appears.

The Belleflower Queen. Her dress shimmers like silver in the sunlight. A crown of flowers wraps around her hair, pulled back in beautiful, tight braids.

She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

She smiles at me. She leans over the edge of the float and procures one, beautiful rose. A real rose.

She holds it out to me. I take it in my tiny hands.

“I want to be you!” I shout to her.

She smiles, but she’s silent. She opens her mouth to speak, but no sound comes out. There’s something wrong with her mouth. Red in her teeth.

Blood falls from her gums, through the cracks in her mouth, and drips down her lips. It stains her throat. Her white dress.

All the while, she keeps smiling.

I push myself backwards, and fall off of Dagney’s shoulders.

I jerk in my sleep. It’s the sensation of falling without falling.

I catch my breath. The room is swathed in deep blue.

A nightmare. It was just a nightmare.

But my heart keeps pattering all the same.

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