by Glover, Dan
“I’m not scared to die.”
Billy talked with Lisa and Allison on one of their last nights together as they lay in bed together talking the way they did. The tumor growing in his head hadn’t affected his sex drive… in fact he said he felt hornier than ever for his two women.
“I’m not ashamed this time like the last time that I died.”
“Oh, God, I’m going to miss you, Billy Austin.”
Lisa was crying softly on his chest trying her best not to break down all together.
“I’ve never loved a man like I love you.”
“Me too, my love.”
Allison sobbed like a baby too.
“I’ll never love another man as long as I live… that I promise.”
“We’re tied to one another, Lisa, Allison, my loves. When you two get up in the morning and see that crazy ocean out there, think of me. Keep me right here.”
He placed his warm firm hands one on each of their chests, between their breasts, over their hearts.
“That’s where I belong.”
The surgery on Jem was successful.
“We’ve been able to completely excise the tumor in Jem’s brain, Mrs. Austin.”
Doctor Sparks had a wide smile on his face as told her the news.
“I’m confident we caught this thing early and she has an excellent chance at a full recovery. How did you know to bring your daughter to me… if I might ask?”
“My husband insisted that I bring her in… I don’t know why though…”
“How could you know?”
Lisa had to know. She asked Billy later that night the question that burned within her.
“Yelena told me. She told me everything. It took a long time to understand. Now, I do. We were drawn to each other for a reason, Lisa. Jem said she heard voices too… I recognized the same symptoms that I’ve always had… I knew what it was… and I suddenly realized why I’m here… Jem is the girl I’m to save. I couldn’t save Pearl… but I could save Jem… and now she’s better… and I can sleep…”
Billy Austin died on a chilly December night two days after Christmas and a little over two years after he arrived in California riding in the back of the Greyhound bus. Lisa imagined how he might be dreaming of the wolf locked in the cage behind the building where he lived as a child.
Perhaps this time... this time the lock crumbled in his hand when Billy tried to unlock the cage and the door swung open. She envisioned the wolf leaping out with tail high and ears perked as it ran down the alley… stopping once to sniff the air, looking back at Billy as if to say thank you. And then Billy was the wolf. He turned and trotted off into the mystery that lay before him.
Lisa and Allison and Jem lay in bed beside him for a long time… listening to the wind howl outside the window and the ocean waves crash onto the shoreline, washing away the land little by little and with it all memory of what was, is, and ever will be… feeling the heat gradually leave Billy’s body. There came a distant rumble far out over the ocean that sounded like far off thunder. A wolf howled very near… right outside the window.
"That's our Billy. He's finally home."
I hoped you've enjoyed reading Billy Austin as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please take the time to leave a review! I read each and every one of them and always learn something new. Thank you!
Books by Dan Glover
Lila’s Child: An Inquiry Into Quality
The Art of Caring: Zen Stories
The Mystery: Zen Stories
Apache Nation
The Gathering of Lovers series
Billy Austin
Lisa
Allison Johns
Tom Three Deer
Justine
Yelena
The Mermaid series
Winter's Mermaid
Mermaid Spring
Short Stories
There Come a Bad Cloud: Tangled up Matter and Ghosts
Mi Vida Dinámica
About the Author: Dan Glover lives in north-central Illinois with a tribe of mystic cats. He has free podcasts of his newest books available at his website and you may follow him on Twitter and connect with him on Facebook.
