Page Turning Books

“This iced tea is delicious, Conal,” she said after a few sips.
“Thanks. My mom used to make some pretty good tea when I was a kid.”
“Well, my compliments to her. She taught you well. Conal, I’m going to get right to the point. You and I don’t chat very often.” Edie, tilted her head and paused for a brief moment as if she were searching for the right words.” “No, no of course we don’t why would we? I’m an old woman and you’re a young man, so I won’t pretend like we’re close friends. However, we’re still neighbors and we have been for sometime. I’m worried about you.”
Conal began to fidget around in his seat, anxiously tapping his thumb on the arm of his recliner. This is all I need. “You don’t need to worry about me, Edie. I’m a safe guy. I just go to work and come home, read for a little, and go to sleep. Wake up and do it all over again. Nothing to worry about.”
Edie scanned the walls of the room, taking notice that the walls were completely bare. Outside of the mountains of books and bookshelves, there was no decor. “I watch you sometimes, Conal. I see you come and go, and no one else. No friends. No girlfriends. Not even a pet. It’s just you here, and you don’t appear to have much of a life. It’s not healthy for a man your age to be so isolated. You don’t even have any pictures out.”
Conal sighed. “Edie…”
“Let me stop you there. You can tell me that everything is fine, but I suspect something is weighing heavy on your heart. You don’t get to be my age without learning a thing or two about when someone’s pulling your leg. Now, are you going to tell me what’s troubling you?”
Conal’s mind flashed back to his dream. Beads of sweat immediately formed on his brow. The explosions, the smoke, the screams. His heart began to race and his mouth went dry. Edie’s words became unrecognizable as they echoed in the back of his mind. Just tell her. Wouldn’t it be nice to tell someone?
“Conal…Conal!”
Conal quickly shook his head, snapping out of his flashback. “Huh? Oh! I’m sorry.”

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