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Montana Wildhack looked was staring at Billy as he opened his eyes. He was back on Tralfamadore in his so called “bubble”, laying on the floor with a pillow behind his head. It was light out and the Tralfamodorians were looking in at the Earthlings to see what they would do next. Montana had grown very attached to Billy since he was the only other human she was able to talk to or see. She always did more of the talking than Billy. She spent her days asking him questions, which Billy would always seem to avoid. This day, after about 3 months with him, Montana decided she would ask him about Dresden.
“What did you see there?” she asked.
She got no response.
“What was it like? It must have been a horrendous sight.”
“It was,” responded Billy. All Billy could think of was the child he had found horribly burned under the remains of an old metal door. The child’s eyes were still open. Billy could still see the look of fright in those hazel eyes and began to hear the screams that he had heard the night before. So it goes.
—–
“Billy—“ said Valencia.
“Hm?”
“How do you feel about starting a family?”
“What about it?”
“I just wanted to make sure you were ready for something like that to happen.”
“Sure.”
“It isn’t something we should rush into,” she added. “I mean this is a decision that this going to affect the rest of our lives. Starting a family is a big responsibility.”
Billy looked up from his book he was reading. “Yes,” he said as he looked into Valencia’s eyes then looked back down to his book.
—–
Billy looked up from his book again when he heard a knock on the door. He was now in the same house just about sixteen years later. He went to the door and opened it. There stood his son, Robert. Robert was wearing a dingy, wrinkled t-shirt and a pair of denim jeans with hole on the knee. His hair was long and wild like a savage. His eyes looked to floor and his posture was a dead give away that he was guilty. Billy looked next to him to see that a police officer has escorted him to the door. The policeman a short and squatty man, with a beard of silver bristles.
“Mr. Pilgrim I presume?”
Billy sighed and nodded. The police officer proceeded to tell him of how Robert had been arrested for tipping over hundreds of tombstones in a Catholic cemetery down the road with some of his buddies. The officer said goodnight and left Robert to be dealt with by Billy.
Billy returned from seeing the officer out and sat down at the kitchen table next to Robert. He remembered sitting here years ago watching him do his homework like the innocent well-behaved child that he once was. Robert finally looked up at his father. Looked into his eyes. Billy could see the look of fright in Robert’s hazel eyes.
“Just go to bed,” said Billy. He couldn’t bare the thought of looking into those eyes for any longer.
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