Dreaming August Read Online Free PDF

head enfolded in her arms, she waited. The touch moved up and down her back, then in circles. Soothing. Comforting. Like her mother did when she was small and so easily upset. It made her sniff back tears. It let her forget Dan and Henny. For now.
    “Who—who are you?”
    “August.”
    Not a voice. Not really. A sound inside her, making itself known.
    “Why are you…contacting me?”
    “You talk. I listen. You need a friend. So do I.”
    Lying on her belly was getting uncomfortable. Benny shifted. “I’m going to sit up. Okay?”
    “Do as you wish, but I believe you must not look at me.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know. I only know when you do, I am pulled away.”
    “Okay. I won’t look at you.” Benny pushed herself upright, careful to keep her eyes on Henny’s tombstone. She felt—August?—that presence off to her left. Shielding her periphery, she rested her elbows to her knees. “Is…was your name August?”
    “I prefer Augie.”
    “Male or female?”
    “Male.”
    “Are you buried here?”
    “I am. I lived in this town for forty years.”
    “I’ve lived here all my life. Does your family still live in these parts?”
    “They left long ago. We are forgotten here.”
    “This is so…wow. I have so many questions, my head is kind of spinning.”
    “Soon, but now, our time is short. Already it pulls me back.”
    “Back where?”
    “Where I have been. You are the first. My first. I am not sure how all this works. I didn’t know—”
    “Didn’t know what?” Benny lifted her head. “August? Augie?”
    But she felt no presence. Chancing a glance out of the corner of her eye, she saw nothing. Her shoulders slumped. Not another car, scooter or bike awaited a rider. She was the only living soul in the cemetery. Pressing her palm flat to her husband’s tombstone, she said, “I think I’m going nuts-o, Henny. What the hell is happening to me?”
    That warmth returned to her shoulder. No presence. No sound inside her making itself heard. Just the warm sensation proving she wasn’t alone. Benny lifted her hand from the granite marker. It trembled, but she moved it slowly, touching the spot to make sure it was real.
    “Augie?”
    The warmth gripped, like a hand grasping hers.
    * * * *
    “That was fast.”
    “But I did it, Harriet. Do you think I frightened her?”
    “Nah. Not that one. She’s been waiting all her life for a man like you.”
    “I am glad to see your sense of humor isn’t as decayed as your corpse.”
    “Be nice, Augie, or I won’t let you in on a little secret about being dead.”
    “I am nice. What secret?”
    “You’re working too hard at it.”
    “At being dead? I assure you, I’m having no trouble with—”
    “Not that, you ninny. I mean you’re pushing the boundary too hard, that’s why it keeps pulling you back. Just be.”
    “Just be? What does that mean?”
    “Try it next time, and you’ll see.”
    * * * *
    Bitterly Cemetery was big enough to make checking each headstone for the name August daunting. Asking Charlie to let her into the archives was a waste of time. The cemetery wasn’t computerized and sifting through probably nonexistent old files was even more daunting than walking the whole thing. She’d see if it happened again first. Then, if she wasn’t nuts-o, she would ask Augie himself where his final resting place was.
    Only he wasn’t resting.
    Benny tucked the hair coming lose from her ponytail behind her ear. It was at that too long to leave loose at work, too short to put up length. Annoying, to say the least. Growing it out always seemed like a good idea, until it reached this point and she chopped it into a bob to tease at her chin. Her mother always claimed the fashion magazines said tall, curvy girls should not wear their hair short.
    “You’re far away, sugar.”
    Benny turned to the familiar drawl, a smile coming to her lips. Savannah took the clippers from her hand.
    “Why don’t you go to my office, rest a