The speaker had all eyes; there was nothing better to look at in the dingy room, and they fed on the distant memories--hearing the small details like peeking through the cracks of a door. She had the softest hands... His eyes were like chocolate, and he smelled like... like redwood bark after it rains. They take turns, observing each with a savoring silence.
First, she says, first there was Jasper, who was there to greet me every day. The first thing I saw when I woke up was a huge smile....Sloppy kisser, but I loved him anyways. He wasn't there one day...I woke up to the afternoon sun in my room, and no Jasper... I never said goodbye. He liked to take long walks, but he'd always come back before...
Then... I wasn't ready-- wasn't looking for anything, but one night, Will came banging at my door, whinging, needed directions-- and I let him in. We do strange things when we're half-asleep.
He had hair like summer-- I used to comb through it, see the dark brown of the hair on his neck, under the sun-yellow . He was loud, and he made me louder. Our shouting matches...The neighbors complained a lot about us...
Three years after Will got in a car accident, my friend Pam introduced me to, well, his friends called him Spike... he was probably too young for me, he convinced himself he was older, pretended he knew me.... he had nerve... but it's hard to resist someone so persuading of their right-ness, I guess... he used to swagger around my apartment, leap on top of all the furniture, make silly faces at me ... He had nerve. Got in a bad way after a fight in the stairwell, and it was the last straw....my landlady put up the No Pets sign not long after that.
She looks over, a quick flicker of her fingers motioning the next speaker to get on with it.
He clears his throat, a long process, but they wait.
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