Trapped Senses

Author: Danielle Coleman

Chapter One

“I’m just saying that it would be a good idea to get you a t-shirt that says, ‘Please do not pet. I’m working.’”

Jason rolled his eyes at his best friends joke, pushing down the want to kick her walking cane. “You could have had an actual dog—a golden retriever or something.”

Tatum turned her head to him, a smirk pulling at the corner of her lips on one side. “My parents keep offering one, saying that it’d be a good idea. I think that having you for a guide dog is so much more convenient. And you can almost carry a conversation as well as a dog.”

The two were walking towards the city public library to pick up another round of Braille books for Tatum. It wasn’t that Jason minded walking her everywhere. In fact, he preferred to be the one to take her places ever since he got his license. He just liked the thought of them having a dog around and her having one when she was alone.

As they entered the building, the filtered air from the overused air conditioning was quick to sweep around their bodies and pull them inside. Row after row of old wooden shelves lined the modest library. From the cement walls and exterior, it had the makings of a bomb shelter but the large open windows overlooking the downtown shops kept Jason from having his fantasy zombie apocalypse shelter.

Tatum’s cane made a familiar nose as they walked up to the checkout desk. Once her hand was free of his forearm, Jason went to look at the newest arrivals in the Friends of the Library bookshop.

His eyes strayed from the old comic in his hands back over to Tatum every so often. The workers knew her well but other people from the city weren’t as familiar and he was on his guard. While Tatum went through her list of returns and pick-ups, Jason caught sight of a comic book version of the bible. He couldn’t help but chortle behind his hand at the bright-colored images of Jesus walking on water or the way Peter looked when someone grabbed his robe to be healed.

It was Tatum’s voice that broke him out of his own world of amusement. “…to go?”

“Hm?” he asked, looking up and closing the book. “Oh yeah, yeah. You have what you need?”

Her shoulder-length hair bounced with her nod and she pulled her sunglasses back down to cover her almost too light blue eyes. He didn’t mind when she left them off but he knew it was better to keep them on when they were outside. “They didn’t have one of the books yet but it should be in tomorrow.”

Jason took her hand and looped it around his arm, leaving the comic book Bible forgotten as they walked outside and into the sun. By the time they reached the park near their homes, the sun was dipping down to the height of the lowest trees.

“Skate—”

“—board,” Tatum finished for him as the daunting noise of wheels running over cracks in the pavement came towards them. He could feel the shiver pass through her as they stepped onto the grass and out of the way. “I can’t stand those things. Every time that I hear one, I feel like my Achilles is going to be sliced through.”

DMU Timestamp: June 16, 2013 21:32