Page 49 of Ex Somnis

The air smells like roses and fresh bread, which makes absolutely no sense because there is no bread out here, but the scent wraps around me warm anyway, buttery and soft like someone opened an oven nearby.

It smells like comfort.

Somewhere behind us, my parents are sitting on a bench, and I can hear my mother laughing.

“Do our nails,” I repeat. “You mean I should do your nails.”

She laughs. “That’s what I said.”

“It’s really not.”

“It is.” She bumps my shoulder.

“Fine.” I sigh deeply. “What do you want?”

“French.”

“Really?”

“It’s classic.”

“It’s boring.”

“It’s elegant.”

“Those aren’t synonyms.”

“They are when you’re wearing a silk blouse.” She glances down at my hands. “You can do your rainbows, glitter, and whatever. My elegance will make yours look better by contrast.”

I follow her gaze and look down at my nails.

Peach.

“It’s bland. It doesn’t suit you.”

A dry male voice echoes in my head, making me stop walking.

“Lenny?” Tessa turns. “You okay?”

I look around at the garden, the roses, the gravel path winding ahead of us, and the bench where my parents are sitting, my father mid-gesture in whatever story he’s telling, my mother’s head tilted back.

Everything is exactly as it should be. The light hasn’t changed in hours, and the air has been the same temperature since we came out here. Not warm, not cold, simply perfect.

I’m tired. That’s all. You hear things when you’re tired.

“Yeah,” I say. “Let’s do our nails later.”

Tessa makes a sound of agreement, and we fall back into step.

We’ve been walking for a while when we pass the same white rosebush for the third time. I know it’s the same one because one bloom near the bottom is bent backward at a strange angle, like someone hooked a finger into it too hard.

The third time we pass it, the flower is fixed.

The bench where my parents were sitting is farther back now, the sound of my mother’s laugh barely reaching us. I can still hear it, though.

However far we walk, I can still hear it.

The birds are chirping something in the trees above us.