Firestone Read Online Free PDF

they want that
something like taking away the negative effects of your
trauma . . . Well, it’s too thoughtful for them, too
kind.”
    Sandy nodded. Delphie leaned forward.
    “ Do you notice
anything . . . missing?” Delphie asked.
    Delphie’s hands moved up and down her
body.
    Sandy cocked her head to the side. She
thought for a moment.
    “ Now that you mention
it . . .” Sandy started.
    “ There you are!” Valerie
said, as she came into the laundry room. Valerie’s long dark hair
was tied in a knot. She was wearing one of Mike’s old dress shirts
and a pair of ratty old jeans. Her effortless beauty made her look
like a magazine advertisement. She gave them a bright
smile.
    “ I wanted
to . . . you know, clean up,” Sandy
nodded.
    “ I’ve been doing the same
thing,” Valerie said. “Nothing like being jerked from your life to
make you want to . . .”
    “ Clean,” Sandy laughed.
She gestured to the machines, “Do you need these?”
    “ No,” Valerie said. “I
used them this morning.”
    Sandy grinned. Valerie lifted Rachel from
the carrier on Sandy’s back. While Valerie played with Rachel,
Sandy put the rest of her laundry in the washers and stood up.
    “ Listen,” Valerie said.
She moved closer to them as if to tell them a secret. “Do you think
the fairies did something to us?”
    “ I was just asking that,”
Delphie nodded.
    “ Why?” Sandy asked, as she
started one of the machines.
    “ I don’t really know,”
Valerie said. “We slept in, like everyone did,
but . . . Mike woke up this morning without his
headache. You know the one he’s had since he was in Afghanistan? I
mean, sometimes he doesn’t have the headache as bad, but he always
has it when his mother’s around. His mother and father are staying here to help
with the babies. And this morning? No headache. He’s smiling,
laughing. He asked me if we should have another baby right away
like other stars do. He . . . well, let’s just say
he was excited this morning. Optimistic. About our
life.”
    Valerie nodded.
    “ Too thoughtful for
fairies,” Sandy shook her head.
    “ I’m not afraid to raise
the kids,” Delphie said.
    “ What?” Valerie asked.
“Really?”
    “ I’m excited,” Delphie
nodded.
    “ I’m so glad.” Valerie
hugged Delphie.
    “ Do you feel different?”
Delphie asked.
    “ Yeah,” Valerie nodded.
“And no. It’s weird. Mike made breakfast this morning. He was
talking and laughing and I felt . . . For the first
time since we lived in Monterey, I
felt . . .”
    Valerie scratched her head. Delphie and
Sandy waited for her to finish her statement.
    “ Hope,” Valerie shrugged.
“I haven’t felt . . . hopeful, like I can build my
own future like I want it. I don’t feel that oppressive, looking
over your shoulder for the next doom that’s going to ruin
everything. I don’t feel it. I mean, it’s not like all that stuff
is gone.”
    “ Right,” Delphie said. “I
remember why I was so afraid.”
    “ I remember Mike being
gone and everything that happened after that
and . . .” Valerie said. “It’s not like the memory
is just gone. I just feel . . .”
    Valerie looked puzzled. She shook her head
as if to shake the thoughts around.
    “ I
feel . . . good,” Valerie said. “Hopeful. I can have
Mike, and a career, and a bunch of babies, and live here, and have
a place in LA, and . . . I have to make choices,
sure, but . . .”
    “ Do you think
it’s . . . fairies?” Delphie asked.
    Valerie made a disgusted face.
    “ I mean, I’m taking Queen
Fand’s son,” Delphie said.
    “ I still think it’s too
thoughtful for them,” Sandy said. “How would they know that Valerie
had lingering doubt about her life because of what happened to
Mike? They couldn’t know that. No one knows about Mike’s headaches
except us. And how would they know that the darkness from Levi
Johanson still cast shadows in your life, Delphie?”
    Sandy shook her