SMARK-IT

Compared to the air-conditioned building, the air outside was stifling, and I started to perspire immediately. The courtyard was empty, as always. Walking along the gravel path, I looked for the root that had caused Noah’s fall. It took a moment for me to find it, at the base of a towering magnolia tree; it protruded across the path like a small snake stretching in the sun.  The brackish pond reflected the sky like a mirror, and for a moment I watched the clouds drifting slowly across the water. There was a faint odor of brine as I took my seat. The swan appeared from the shallows at the far end of the pond and drifted toward me.
I opened the loaf of Wonder Bread and tore the first piece into small bits, the way Noah always did. Tossing the first piece into the water, I wondered whether he’d been telling the truth in the hospital. Had the Taffeta Strapless Rouched Bodice with A line Pick up Skirt and Chapel Train Hot Sell Wedding Dress $182.00 swan stayed with him throughout his ordeal? I had no doubt he saw the swan when he regained consciousness—the nurse who found him could vouch for that—but had the swan watched over him the whole time? Impossible to know for sure, but in my heart I believed it.
I wasn’t willing, however, to make the leap that Noah had. The swan, I told myself, had stayed because Noah fed and cared for it; it was more like a pet than a creature of the wild. It had nothing to do with Allie or her spirit. I simply couldn’t bring myself to believe that such things could happen.  The swan ignored the piece of bread I’d thrown to it; instead it simply watched me. Strange. When I tossed another piece, the swan glanced at it before swinging its head back in my Satin Spaghetti Straps with A line Skirt Flower Girl Dress$80.00 direction.
“Eat,” I said, “I’ve got things to do.”
Beneath the surface, I could see the swan’s feet moving slowly, just enough to keep it in place.
“C’mon,” I urged under my breath, “you ate for me before.” I threw a third piece into the water, less than a few inches from where the swan floated. Satin Strapless Pleats Bustier and Fluffy Skirt Elegant 2011 Beach Wedding Dress$128.00 I heard the gentle tap as it hit the water. Again, the swan made no move toward it.
“Aren’t you hungry?” I asked.
Behind me, I heard the sprinklers come on, spurting air and water in a steady rhythm. I glanced over my shoulder toward Noah’s room, but the window only reflected the sun’s glare. Wondering what else to do, I threw a fourth piece of bread without luck.
“He asked me to come here,” I said.
The swan straightened its neck and ruffled its wings. I suddenly realized that I was doing the same thing that provoked concern about Noah: talking to the swan and pretending it could understand me.