She of the Mountains Read Online Free Page B
Author: Vivek Shraya
their meeting, he phoned his friend Geoff for a pep talk. Geoff listened as he swooned in phrases that sounded stolen from early â90s R&B slow jams:
I canât get her out of my head.
I canât wait to see her.
Sheâs so lovely.
But itâs not a date or anything , Geoff interrupted.
No. She has a boyfriend.
No, I mean, you canât actually like her, like her, right?
I guess not? I donât know. I canât get her out of my head.
He arrived at the coffee shop on Jasper Avenue exactly sixteen minutes before she did and took a seat facing the door so that they could see each other the moment she entered. But when she arrived, he looked down to give the impression that he was preoccupied with a very important thought. He slid his hands under his knees.
He looked up when her scent reached him. She smiled, and he jumped up to embrace her, a standard greeting amongst hisfriends, but when their jackets briefly touched, it felt more than friendly.
They sat down, and before she was able to unwrap herself from the layers of Edmonton winter-survival gear, the words stumbled out of him:
I just want you to know that I dig you.
There it was, sitting on the table between them, exposed for all of its unromanticnessâthe word dig . A teenage confession that prompted mutual teenage giggling for the next five minutes, but without eye contact. That kind of intimacy in this moment could heighten a dig to a like . And yet, his flushed cheeks revealed to him that he did, in fact, like her. Like her , like her. This was no friend crush.
Once the moment had passed and their faces stabilized, conversation flowed as effortlessly as it did when they were at work. But his confession had irreversibly changed how they looked at each other, or rather, enhanced it. The wool scarf around her neck, for instance, was suddenly indistinguishable from her skin and was completely irresistible to him.
Uma! Uma! Uma!
I rush over to where Ganesh is sleeping.
Bad dreams again, dear one?
I rock him back and forth in my arms. He barely nods, still half asleep.
What happens in these dreams?
Someone is hurting me.
After he falls back asleep, I hold him a little longer and then carefully ease myself up.
I turn around and see Shiv close behind us, pacing.
Parvati, there is something I havenât told you. Something you havenât asked me.
I know.
You do?
I do.
Why havenât you asked?
Because it doesnât matter, he is still my precious boy. At least, it didnât matter â¦
I think you need to know.
I think you are right.
As you know, I had been in a battle ⦠that day.
We both wince. We have been trying to forget that day. Perhaps this is another reason why I had not yet asked the most obvious question.
I was informed by the forest dwellers of an elephant king west of the mountains who had become greedy, claiming more and more of the land as his own. They said that his mind had turned black.
Shiv, no. NO.
I went to reason with him and to restore order. Butâ
NO. My son! But ⦠how?
Do you recall that I wasnât able to reattach his original head? I didnât know what to do. I immediately thought of the last head â¦
That villainâs head! You put that savageâs head on my sonâs body?
I was desperate. I had to do something.
You had done enough! None of this would have happened if you had only â¦
He tries to put his hand on my shoulder, but I step back.
But that still doesnât make sense , I continue. Why was the union successful? How did he come back?
I donât know.
You donât know?
I honestly donât know. I think there was something about the energy in the room at the exact moment when head and body were put together.
Why donât I remember?
You were stomping, dancing hard, and everything was falling apart. Everything. But there was a distinct smell that cut through the air. Once I recognized it, I felt hopeful.
What smell?
It
I canât get her out of my head.
I canât wait to see her.
Sheâs so lovely.
But itâs not a date or anything , Geoff interrupted.
No. She has a boyfriend.
No, I mean, you canât actually like her, like her, right?
I guess not? I donât know. I canât get her out of my head.
He arrived at the coffee shop on Jasper Avenue exactly sixteen minutes before she did and took a seat facing the door so that they could see each other the moment she entered. But when she arrived, he looked down to give the impression that he was preoccupied with a very important thought. He slid his hands under his knees.
He looked up when her scent reached him. She smiled, and he jumped up to embrace her, a standard greeting amongst hisfriends, but when their jackets briefly touched, it felt more than friendly.
They sat down, and before she was able to unwrap herself from the layers of Edmonton winter-survival gear, the words stumbled out of him:
I just want you to know that I dig you.
There it was, sitting on the table between them, exposed for all of its unromanticnessâthe word dig . A teenage confession that prompted mutual teenage giggling for the next five minutes, but without eye contact. That kind of intimacy in this moment could heighten a dig to a like . And yet, his flushed cheeks revealed to him that he did, in fact, like her. Like her , like her. This was no friend crush.
Once the moment had passed and their faces stabilized, conversation flowed as effortlessly as it did when they were at work. But his confession had irreversibly changed how they looked at each other, or rather, enhanced it. The wool scarf around her neck, for instance, was suddenly indistinguishable from her skin and was completely irresistible to him.
Uma! Uma! Uma!
I rush over to where Ganesh is sleeping.
Bad dreams again, dear one?
I rock him back and forth in my arms. He barely nods, still half asleep.
What happens in these dreams?
Someone is hurting me.
After he falls back asleep, I hold him a little longer and then carefully ease myself up.
I turn around and see Shiv close behind us, pacing.
Parvati, there is something I havenât told you. Something you havenât asked me.
I know.
You do?
I do.
Why havenât you asked?
Because it doesnât matter, he is still my precious boy. At least, it didnât matter â¦
I think you need to know.
I think you are right.
As you know, I had been in a battle ⦠that day.
We both wince. We have been trying to forget that day. Perhaps this is another reason why I had not yet asked the most obvious question.
I was informed by the forest dwellers of an elephant king west of the mountains who had become greedy, claiming more and more of the land as his own. They said that his mind had turned black.
Shiv, no. NO.
I went to reason with him and to restore order. Butâ
NO. My son! But ⦠how?
Do you recall that I wasnât able to reattach his original head? I didnât know what to do. I immediately thought of the last head â¦
That villainâs head! You put that savageâs head on my sonâs body?
I was desperate. I had to do something.
You had done enough! None of this would have happened if you had only â¦
He tries to put his hand on my shoulder, but I step back.
But that still doesnât make sense , I continue. Why was the union successful? How did he come back?
I donât know.
You donât know?
I honestly donât know. I think there was something about the energy in the room at the exact moment when head and body were put together.
Why donât I remember?
You were stomping, dancing hard, and everything was falling apart. Everything. But there was a distinct smell that cut through the air. Once I recognized it, I felt hopeful.
What smell?
It
Readers choose
Tabor Evans
Sheri L. Swift
Eric Walters
Paul Collins
Rhyannon Byrd
Jaci J
Grant Bywaters
M.J. O'Shea
James Tate