DOWNEAST PROPERTIES

Surprisingly Cold (continued from page 240) restaurant door and slipped inside.

I gave her some time and then entered. e air-conditioning was surprisingly cold.

Becca leaned back against the bar, watching me, her arms wrapped around herself. She said, “I didn’t tell anyone about the dreams.”

I told her that all I knew was her name and that she worked at the theater.

She said, “ is man is bothering me.” e bartender turned around.

I said, “Does he tell you what he wants?”

She said, “ is is abuse.”

Sadness came over me. My voice was almost a whisper. I said, “Does he ask for Andrea?”

Becca punched my chest with both hands. I staggered back into a table. Wine glasses fell and shattered. e bartender came around the bar.

Becca yelled in my face, “You’re scaring me. I’ll get a protective order.”

“It’s not like that,” I said. “Don’t be afraid. He was a good person.”

“Who was?” she said. “What’re you talking about?”

“Harlan Ashton,” I said, “the man in your dream.”

Becca ran. I offered to pay the bartender for the broken glasses. He pushed me outside. I looked around for Becca, but she was gone. I had to think, decide what to do next, but for sure, Becca Salman was in it. n

Henry David Thoreau