Despite being underer for a day, tified as t of young Oscar Love. t pulled back, t of t o look closely. not been for trange netting around terlogged corpse, maybe no one anytragic accident. o rest under ts left to te grief. But suspicions t transported to ty morgue for a proper autopsy and inquest. t found only strange effects. to all out Oscar later told me about tropernal organs, t, ted lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen, and brain of a deatenarian.
trangeness and sorro of Jimmy Cummings. it of to t nig returned. s tal, until t evening did George begin to of us Jimmy, desperate for any neo go back to t evening if t just as I sat doc be trying to reac my moto sit.
quot;I dont like your friends calling in t; Mom picked up ts cradle on ter ste of surprise, s. Surned to finiso stare at t , turned to she news.
quot;Its a miracle. t was Oscar Love. Jimmy Cummings is okay, and ;
My sisters stopped mid-bite, tared at o repeat tions of ences.
quot;t of togettle Oscar Love.quot;
Elizabettered on te.
quot;Youre kidding. Alive?quot; Mary said.
quot;Far out,quot; said Elizabeth.
Distracted, Mom fretted emples. Sood behinking.
quot;Isnt ; I asked.
quot;ell ... t be a mistake.quot;
quot;ts a ake, Mom,quot; Mary said.
Elizabet-so-rorical question . quot;So ;
Mary asked ;ts so cool.quot;
My mot aring at te of fried c in abstraction, reconciling rue s o believe. too nervous to eat, I retired to templation. On my second Camel, I ang veered off tailing to a stop. to t t out of to a ponytail, a pair of rose-colored glasses perco a broad grin. Mary and Elizabeted ook tairs in tood directly in front of me, expecting a heros welcome. e shook hands.
quot;elcome back from t;
quot;Man, you kno tell if oned or just .
Mom burst til urned red. Not able to restrain t longer, my sisters joined in, nearly tackling chem unpeel one by one.
quot;tell us all about it,quot; my mot;ould you like a drink? Let me get you an iced tea.quot;
ctan. Unable to decide upon a sister, Jimmy slumped onto ttee, and t my post at turned, Mom sat beside Jimmy, beaming at him as if he were her own son.
quot;;
quot;Oers of grace defend us.quot;
quot;ts ;As if Oscar miged out of believe elling t to take to ttle Oscar to be buried, tack, man, and Libby ouc are you? Can you speak to me? And to , and s.quot;
tical beings, one dead, the child.
quot;All tors and nurses freaked out, too. Speaking of nurses, ot;
t was no boy.
quot;Learts s a times. And Oscar, big Oscar, came in a fees later, tine o see me, too. tions start flying, and of course I already told tory to t us to tal on account of tell, t a ttle strung out, like ripping, and ty tired and dirty and ty.quot;
A big storm darkened in tern skies. In t, tures ed an underground campsite, a maze of tunnels t sered ther.
quot;But you o kno in my ride and drove rig;
ea in a single gulp, and my mot once. S of us, greory to , s;So, tle Oscar?quot;
quot;ell you t I sa nurse, tess ode nig so caug kid t I lost track of time. My copped dead around seven. because it must er nine. Not t I believe in gs or anyt, just t it ;
I ccudied torm, trying to calculate its tempo. If one or t, to look for a cave or a ree to out t.
quot;So I . And at t point, Im concerned about finding my o. I come to ts starlit and spooky. t ovals in a ring around t, rig;
On fair summer nig above ground. e read t of foul I es from tones in the river again.
quot;t sticks from a campfire t some freakin ers or backpackers left, and if I o stay t in t be a good place since, obviously, someone ayed ize me, for next trangest dreams. ions. Bad acid. A voice from far atle boy calling and calling Mama, but I cant see oo tired to get up. You ever its really going off beside your bed? Only you ts just a dream, so you dont get up to s if off, t up t you it ringing?quot;
quot;I t dream every morning,quot; said Mary.
quot;Dig it. I cant see I can tle Oscar crying out for art looking for me o find you. So arts calling out, Im under see ry to follos tuff t someone s a trap. Im struck in to my armpits in t nearby. A bad scene, man, a bad scene.quot;
topped s about torm and concentrated on t it receded in talk.
quot;I rapped up against t arent on ttom of t, but dangling t top of a bottomless pit. Or maybe somet ttom, going to get me.quot; at the girls, who screamed and giggled.
quot;I stayed still, considering my situation, Mrs. Day, and I s out to Little Oscar to be cool ting on my nerves. And I says, Im stuck in a I you as soon as I can figure out a o get out. And s a tunnel. So I tell o cra out?quot;
In tance, to roll up t a sudden wrack of lighe song had slipped my mind again.
quot;Morning comes, so nouck in a give myself a skos, all I o do is t and dourns out I or ttom. But my feet are asleep, and my arms are aco take a leak—pardon my Frencired, but t boy—quot;
e jumped at a loud boom of t t filled tricity and tto first fat drops las betable chairs.
quot;At ttom of t; Jimmy continued over t;tunnels in t directions. I sed doo unnels, man, unbelievably cool. Lord kno real skinny, like maybe kids made til you come to times big enoug. And at eacunnels. It just noo me t I saV e. Like ts a Vietnamese camp?quot;
quot;Do you really t; I asked, quot;t tcong up camp in t;
quot;No, man. Do you ts o go into tunnels to find t back and fortrying not to get lost, notice t first because of all t and grime—;
quot; o ; Mom asked.
tripped o make s they were doing.
quot;Mrs. Day, I to do up out of t ledges notice t up ed, like climbing a ladder.quot;
I tter part of a mont t picture tantly digging in the warren.
quot;It e o tramp back till looking for us. So ting t to do next, o ty blanket ts lying tasore in t, dried-out musreasure.quot;
I looked out torm ed. hey gone?
quot;As Im fixing up dinner, Oscar starts poking around trying to find a o open time pants like knickerbockers and a dingy er. believe tuff ts out ts, mittens. e go around uncovering all ttons, a poucion, and old cards and neuff ten on ticing ring, a y scissors. t told to go up and investigate, because t types around our to;
quot;I s.quot; My mother pursed her lips.
Elizabet ;s ure?quot;
quot;I didnt say anyt nature.quot;
quot; t; Jimmy continued, quot;must before I got tells me o be naked in a . tending to be pirates, kidnapped ied o a tree. Anot on a mask t looked exactly like o a ook off all ake off all ting kind of freaked out, but to forget it all , puts a lid on tunnel.quot;
to go tried to remember be.
quot;All t for one girl, s , but it does explain a lot of t;
quot;And t boy t; Mom said.
quot;Maybe ts ;Maybe t boy kinda looked like s w ;
Mary put for everybody ;
Mom . quot;Sounds like to me.quot;
t I kneter. I pressed my fore tried to forget. to th.