La Photographie Moderne

shaking by what had just happened. "I could have lost my life, right out there in the street, right out in front of your gallery," he added.

  "You didn't though, did you? You were missed. Now let's go in the back and sit down, I hear the sirens coming already. I made some fresh coffee."

  Trevor followed Reason into the back of the gallery and sat down on a large low white moderne sofa. Colbert jumped up on the sofa and sat next to Trevor.

  "Hey there pooch," he said rubbing her head, "Oh, you're so sweet."

  This distracted him in a good way Reason thought. "That's Colbert, she's my buddy," he explained as he poured the coffee, added milk and sweetener, and then handed the cup to Trevor.

  "Oh I want a Shar-Pei!" he said as he took the cup and sipped the brew slowly. It was hot and soothing. He was still shaking.

  Reason sat down on the ottoman in front of the sofa, he put his hand on Trevor's hand. "Now relax. It's okay, you're all right. You weren't hit." He had touched him to see if he might see another vision, to see if anything else would happen to him, but he couldn't focus. Touching someone didn’t always help him have a vision.

  He needed to relax himself, he needed to sit and drink his cup of coffee. This was the only way that he could see the future; just let it flow out of him, without trying to force it. 'Trevor would have been the one hit if he hadn't stepped in,' he thought to himself.

  Trevor finished his coffee in silence. "That was good coffee," he finally said. "I feel better now. I almost forgot about the accident watching Colbert here. She is so sweet. I can see she is a loving dog. How long have you had her?"

  "I think she's about four years old now. She is such a little sweetheart. Spoiled rotten, but she's worth it." Reason said as he scratched under Colbert's small ears.

  "Well I should go now. I am taking up too much of your time. Here is my business card, printed them myself," he said pulling the card from his top pocket. "If you reach your friend, give me a call. I have an answering machine as well."

  Reason was surprised that Trevor had business cards, the young tart. "Okay, so you feel better now?" he asked as he took the card glancing down at it.

  Trevor nodded his head up and down as he replied, "Oh yes, just a little shook up. I'll be fine."

  "You can stay as long as you like. I am not going to close up for awhile."

  "Really I am fine now.''

  "Good, I am so glad that you weren't hurt. It's amazing how a few seconds can change your entire future."

  Trevor looked at Reason and cocked his head.

  "Now don't think a thing of it," Reason said.

  "I shant now."

  "Good, now get going. When I hear from Joe, I'll give you a call."

  "Thanks again. Bye Colbert, bye sweetie, I'll see you soon," and he was gone.

  Reason sighed as he spoke to Colbert, "Now what have I done? Maybe one more chance for such a nice guy, and by the way, he liked you Colbert. I'll call him next week to see if he is still alive," he said carelessly rubbing Colbert's head.

  "Boy what time is it? I am bushed." He looked at the moderne clock sitting on his desk, four thirty-five.

  "Colbert let's go home." At this, Colbert stood up and stretched her slim body. She jumped down off of the sofa, shook her entire body, and was ready to go. Reason closed up the shop and was out the back door in a matter of minutes.

  It was early, but he was his own boss, he could close shop early. "We'll stop and get Thai food on the way home," he said to Colbert as she jumped into the Jaguar XJS. "I am craving duck with yellow curry." He sped off.

  Chapitre 2

  30 minutes later.

  When Reason arrived at home, he was physically exhausted and needed to rest.

  His entire being felt completely drained of all energy. He had closed the gallery a little early for this reason. The clairvoyance always made him feel this way. He wanted to forget what he had seen, but that was not easy.

  Colbert was hungry so he feed her first: a cup of lamb and rice dry dog food mixed with half a can of lamb and rice and a splash of distilled water. She loved this concoction. He mixed it a few times and placed it on her table for Colbert, who began to eat it like it was her last meal. Then he opened the doggy door for her.

  He went to the living room to eat his Duck with yellow curry and look at the evening news. Colbert would eat and then go out in the back yard, she would come back in awhile and come searching for him. She always had to be at his feet.

  Reason finished eating a little over half of the food and went back into the kitchen to put away the food and clean up Colbert's dish. Reason went to the bedroom and laid down on his bed, he fell asleep.

  2 a.m.

  Reason awoke in the dark room. Colbert was laying there next to him near his feet. She wagged her tail and then snorted and returned to sleep. He was warm and needed water. His body felt sluggish and his mind was fuzzy.

  He fumbled on the side of the bed to grab the cord switch to the nightlight on the square table that was beside his bed. This would help him adjust his eyes to the light with as little discomfort as possible.

  When he was about to get up from the bed, he fell back as he saw something in the corner of the room. Darkness surrounded him, then his eyes saw a flash of light and he was watching a man walking to the edge of his bed and talking to him.

  He was a very handsome man, with blue eyes and a full face. He was speaking about some boat that was being rocked back and forth. He was showing how he had wedged his arm against the side of the boat to hold himself on the bed as the boat rocked and the rain poured down. He had a soft voice and looked as though he was right in Reason's room, sitting on his bed.

  Reason couldn't see himself in the vision, but he must be in it. Who else would be lying in his bed? Where was Colbert? There she was at his feet. This man kept speaking about the storm and how it was so fun, if you tied down your boat well. When he started to ask this man his name, the vision ended and Reason was alone his bed, Colbert asleep still near the foot of the bed.

  He felt as though he was having a heart attack. He felt like all the blood had rushed to his head and he just couldn't get his breath. The feeling he was having was like shock. It felt great, but he was getting anxious beyond normal. He had never experienced this kind of feeling after a vision. Maybe it really was a heart attack. He had never had two visions so close to one another either.

  Who was the man he was having a vision about? He had never had one without seeing the person first. Now how could he have had this vision about this stranger who he had never met? Everything was all fuzzy and he couldn't think. He was reviewing the vision backwards and could still see the man sitting on his bed. He had nice full lips, a square jaw and a soothing voice. His voice was so enticing, so gentle and loving.

  His eyes were staring into Reason's line of view, and he really felt like this man was someone he was going to know. When would it happen? His thoughts were still unclear and anxiety was building up inside of him still.

  He arose from the bed and stumbled to the hall. He found the light switch and flipped it on; Colbert awoke, wagging her tail, she kept her eyes closed. The bright light hurt his eyes and he closed them shut. He flipped the switch again. He went down the hall towards the kitchen, where there was a nightlight that came on automatically when it got dark, he could barely glimpse it.

  He filled a glass with distilled water from glass jug in the fridge. He drank it down completely making himself take it to the very last gulp. His throat hurt after this and his stomach ached. His thirst was gone, but now he felt queasy.

  He stumbled back down the hall fumbling for the air conditioning controls, he found it in the dim light and knowing where it was, flipped on the air. He then fumbled down the hall to the bedroom and flopped on the bed.

  Colbert had moved closer to him, pushing up against his leg, she had to be next to him, touching him. He fell asleep and did not awake until the morning.

  Friday mor
ning.

  Reason lay in bed, covered up to his neck. The air conditioning had cooled down the house dramatically and even Colbert was snuggled under the covers. He wondered if he had created this second vision from his "stepping in" yesterday. He remembered the vision of the man talking to him, but he was losing the memory of what the man looked like. It was vaguer since last night and he wondered why did he have it, because he stepped in? It bothered him, but he would put it on the back burner for now, and later he would ponder about it.

  He got up and made coffee. He switched off the air conditioning and then fed Colbert while the coffee brewed. The vision was still stuck in his head but the image of the man was even vaguer than when he first awoke. He poured the coffee into the mug that already had the milk and sweetener in it and went and sat at the table.

  He had grabbed the newspaper from porch earlier and saw how beautiful the morning was. Today was a beautiful day and he wanted to enjoy it. He sat at the table and drank the coffee, reading about the headlines of the day and then the weather, sunny and 74F. Perfect he thought. He poured another cup and drank it slowly trying to wake up, he felt groggy from all the sleep he had. A shower later would wake him up.

  9 a.m.

  He took a long shower, then primped for awhile and casually dressed. He poured one more cup of coffee and then went off to work, Colbert in tow. He felt so good inside about the day. The sky was a