Page 13 of Magically Generated
Huh.He hadn’t thought that his mother, out in B.C., would hear about this, though he supposed she paid attention to Toronto news because he lived here.
“Yes,” he said.“I went to see one yesterday because it’s, um, close to my apartment.”
“There was a picture of one sculpture.A hippo.”She clicked her tongue.“It was impressive, but I don’t know why anyone would put a Santa hat on a hippo.They live nowhere near the North Pole!”
He smothered a laugh and refrained from defending his artistic choices.
After ending the call, Everett debated what food to gorge himself on tonight.Before he could decide, he received a text from a friend, asking if he’d like to watch the Leafs game at a bar.He wished he could—he hadn’t seen this friend in a couple of months—but he didn’t want to change his plans.
He made an excuse about feeling a little under the weather and suggested they meet up another time.Then he ordered two large pizzas with pepperoni and mushrooms.He’d leave a couple of slices for a middle-of-the-night snack when he returned home.
At ten o’clock, he ate some star-shaped shortbread cookies, put on his winter gear, and locked his apartment.He glanced at Nora’s door and wondered if she was back from celebrating Christmas with her sister.He hadn’t heard her return, but depending on where he was in his apartment, he didn’t always hear noise in the hallway.
He hoped she had a good time.
He also hoped she enjoyed the next sculpture.It was slightly more involved than the last one, and it would probably take him three hours.He’d planned it out ages ago, but now, because of what the snow animals in question would be doing, he couldn’t help but think of her.
With her company, he’d felt less alone lately.
“Welcome to your new home,” Nora said.
She couldn’t believe she was talking to a plush green dinosaur.She wasn’t quite sure which kind of dinosaur he was supposed to be.If she had to guess, she’d say a T-Rex, but he was certainly the least threatening T-Rex in existence.
It had been a Christmas gift from her three-year-old nephew, who’d ruined the surprise within thirty seconds of her arrival.When she’d finally unwrapped the gift, he’d proclaimed that the dinosaur was named Dino, and he’d made her promise to talk to Dino and tuck him into bed each night.She didn’t intend to speak to him every night, but she could at least do it once.It would feel wrong to break a promise to a small child.
Her phone vibrated on her bedside table.It was Aimee, saying that she’d decided to go home with the man she’d met on an app—it was their second time meeting up in person.She provided an address.
Nora told her friend to have a good time, then set her phone to Do Not Disturb, with Aimee’s number as an exception.She turned out the light and settled under the covers.
But for some reason, she couldn’t sleep.Maybe it was thanks to all the ham and chocolate she’d consumed earlier, or her concern about Aimee.
Or because she wasn’t used to sharing her bed.
A plush dinosaur on the other side of her queen bed shouldn’t disrupt her sleep.He was, after all, very small—and he didn’t snore or steal the blankets.At least, he hadn’t done so yet.
But he was the only thing that was different about her sleeping environment.
At one thirty in the morning, Nora took Dino to her couch, murmuring apologies as she settled him against a throw pillow.Then she returned to bed.
She’d rarely had trouble falling asleep when she was younger, but the older she got, the more frequently she was plagued by insomnia.By the time she turned seventy, she’d probably stop sleeping altogether.
If there was still a world to sleep in, that was.Occasionally, she had her doubts.
After tossing and turning for another hour, she gave up on getting some shuteye, grabbed her phone, and went to join Dino on the couch.
“Sorry,” she said as she accidentally shoved him onto the carpet.She picked him up and was about to set him on the coffee table when she changed her mind.Maybe cuddling a plushie would calm her brain.It seemed unlikely, but at this point, she was willing to try anything.
She was definitely losing it.
With Dino safely snuggled against her chest, she settled on the couch and opened the Sudoku app on her phone.This would be better for her state of mind than, say, going on social media and stumbling across posts that referred to a novel set in the nineties as historical fiction.Or, worse, people who supported book banning.
She’d just finished an easy puzzle when she heard someone walking down the hallway.The footsteps stopped near her door, and she froze.
It was probably Everett, coming home late after a night out.She wouldn’t have pegged him as the sort to be out until almost three in the morning, but what did she know?
Still, even though it was most likely her neighbor, her body tensed, as if on high alert.
There was a loud thud.
