Travelers' Shorts 2

TETHERS: “... Seth was getting used to hearing the same eerie sounds each time the voices spoke to him in his head. The sounds came just before the voices spoke to him, and then again, when they had finished. Raspy synthesized noises, the sounds were like loud whispers in Seth’s inner ear...” DECISION THINKING: “…Overlapping to save time, Jason grabbed his blow dryer and stood in front of the toilet urinating as he switched it on. The lights went out and the dryer stopped. With his strong stream still flowing, Jason turned in the dark, spraying the walls, the towels, and the floor while the blow dryer slipped from his hand and into the toilet…” THE PLANE AND THE MATCHBOX CAR: “...My presence on the beach is unnoticed by the sandpipers—too busy running amok on their stick legs, poking into the wet sand on the shore. I’m alone on a slope of warm sand above them, lying on my stomach on my towel...” CY AND MINDY MEECHUM: “…USELESS is what you are! Just useless, the two of you!” Some would call it tough love, a mother shouting at her children that way. “Both of you need to get the hell out and stop coming back here!” The thing was, these were not children—they were adults...” PINE TREE PRIVY: “...You might have noticed me on the night of the fire, here at the house. It was around Christmastime. The boy was to sing with the school choir. On the evening of the show, while the boy was eating dinner with his brothers and sisters, black smoke began billowing from the garage…” CHANCE AND KEANAN, ADAGIO FOR WINDOWPANE AND GAZEBO: "...Even on the brightest spring days, the gazebo sat forgotten and cheerless, juxtaposed against the sea. “It’s weird to see this place so quiet.” Chance steered the curve at the bottom of the hill. “When I come to work in the afternoon, it’s always crawling with tourists, you know?” Where the road came closest to the cove, the sidewalk skirting the cliffs was deserted. Keenan’s eyes followed the long handrail next to the cliff’s edge. The only barrier before a dangerous drop, it was constructed of metal pipes linked together like tinker toys..." (Book includes several additional stories.)