ernie felt the squares coming back even before he heard them open the front door.
it was an ability he had developed through the years that he had been free.
the closet was right beside him but he had already tried to open it and it was locked. he did not really like hiding in closets anyway.
the window looked too small. and it was on the other side of the room from where he was standing and the squares must have run up the stairs because he could hear them right outside!
same thing for the bedroom - too far away and the bed was flat on the floor and you could not hide under it anyway.
there was nothing for it but to get behind the couch. he would probably end up having to fight his way out.
and he was not in the mood for that. damn!
he got behind the couch just in time. the squares opened the door and came in.
there were two of them. the usual number, like it was a law or something. sometimes there were three, and once in a while there was only one.
one time, one time only in ernie’s experience, there were four. what a nightmare that had been! he did not like to think about it.
there were two voices - a man voice and a woman voice. ernie thought he was pretty good at telling a man from a woman just from their voices, although lately he had had a few surprises.
the man voice spoke first -
we just started - i can’t handle this.
you said that before, the woman voice answered, you’ve said it a hundred times.
no, only ninety-nine and a half.
very funny. that’s why i always wanted you to stay away from millicent.
you always were thrill crazy, doris.
go away, kid, you bother me.
that was my grandpa’s solution to everything.
but you never gave me a chance to show what i could do. that’s why i have the blues every day.
you should have spoken up. because i had the blues every day too. and i had dreams once.
oh, frederick, you and your pathetic dreams.
but i was always told to go away and stop bothering people.
yes, it is so easy to forget, isn’t it?
but i loved the sound of the rain.
damn, ernie thought, they don’t seem to be getting any closer to the bedroom door.
that’s enough about me, the man voice said, what’s for dinner?
i suppose i will call and get what i want - a couple of vanilla crepe suzettes and a strawberry smoothie, if you are interested - and you will call and get what you want.
it’s been so long since we dined together.
or had thrilling, indescribable dreams. but you never gave me a chance to show what i could do.
finally they got to the bedroom and closed the door behind them.
ernie made his escape with a swiftness born of years of practice.
he got down the stairs and out into the street. the night was just beginning to fade.
as he headed for the shelter of the park, ernie thought about the conversation he had heard between doris and frederick.
some of it had almost made him laugh, and want to put his own two cents in.
sometimes ernie almost wished that he was a human being, that he could go out in daylight, and that he had friends.
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