The Universe is a Very Big Place Read Online Free PDF Page A

hot for your own good."
    Spring snorted and took the tissue Jason offered her. He knew her too well. They had been friends for years, but a few drinks and a slow night slinging cotton candy last fall had changed it all. Now they were bound together, one way or another. As Lanie would say, their fate strings had gotten all jumbled up.
    "I got a crazy idea," he said, pulling her up by the arms. He was a good six inches taller than her and smelled like French fries and Old Spice. “Why don’t we get married? We’ve been practically living together in my van for the last 6 months. Why not make it official?” He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. “Just think…you, me, the little Bambino, touring the countryside together. If he’s musically inclined, we could start a family band. Be like the Partridges. Only not so gay."
    I could, she thought, nuzzling into him. He was safe and warm and familiar. She remembered the day her mother had picked him up on the side of the road nine years earlier.
    “Hitchhiking to Santa Cruz,” he had said, off to pursue his music career. He never made it to Santa Cruz. Once he learned how much money could be made hustling kids out of their allowances to see The Half-Monkey Lady, he had settled in. That was the way it was here. The Carnival was one big roach motel. You check in, you eat a bunch of crap, and you stay until you die.   Very few people escaped. They had intentions of leaving, but one by one The Carnival took them all. Heart disease. Obesity. Drugs. Equipment failure. Most of them dead by fifty. There was no fading gracefully into old age here. You just stopped.
    If it didn’t take them entirely, it took some of their best parts. Just two months ago, a young man had given up a limb to a roller coaster. He had climbed the steel mountain to fix a dangling bolt when the car ran over his arm. They say he may have saved some people with his bravery. But the papers never heard of it. Bad for business. Now he’s quietly employed as the ticket taker at the back of the lot.
    "What do you say?" Jason pulled her in tighter. “I bet I’m damned good at changing diapers."
    She took a deep breath. Though she cared about Jason, he had nothing more to offer her than his body, his guitar, and the eternal belief that someday he would roadie for Phish. “It wouldn’t work," she whispered. “We’re too different. And besides…"
    Jason released her from his arms and narrowed his eyes, ready to battle. "And besides what? Oh, never mind, I know. I’m not good enough for you." He pushed through the stall door and into the empty bathroom. "Afraid you will end up like your mother?"
    Spring lowered her eyes. Yes, she was afraid of that, and why not? It was a legitimate fear. But there was more to it. She followed him into the bathroom. “We just aren’t right for each other Jason."
    "Oh, I see.” Jason fell forward over the standalone sink, slamming his hands into the mirror. “We were right for each other a few weeks ago weren’t we? And even a few nights ago. But not for the long haul. No, Spring reserves that spot for someone more worthy. Am I right?"
    "Stop it. That’s not fair."
    "Isn’t it? Don’t think I don’t know about that little fairy tale you believe in. You get one love in this lifetime and that’s it right? Don’t waste it on the Ferris wheel guy."
    Spring felt her knees give and her stomach roil. She moved back into the stall and fought the nausea. It seemed too early for morning sickness. “Jason, please. There are many reasons we aren’t right for each other. You’re my best friend but…"
    "No, I get it. What could I possibly offer you?" He turned the water on and shut it off again. "I hope for your sake that fairy tales come true. Or you’re in for a long, lonely life." Spring heard him pull a paper towel from the chute, wipe his hands, and toss it into the waste bin. “When you decide what you want to do let me know. I will be there for the baby if