It was a bit educational watching the man work, to be honest. Trunk and I could clean a bird of its feathers and get it ready for a stew pot, but we w...re rank amateurs next to this trail cook.I had expected him to roast or boil them, but instead he cut the meat off the bone until he had a pile of chicken pieces. He seared them in some hot grease in a big skillet and then threw in a pile of chopped carrots, celery and onions, added a bottle of wine and then made himself a dough of some kind. It was one of my not-so-secret pleasures to go to the bookstore. This was not one of the small, dark and dingy bookstores of my youth; it was large brightly lit, well staffed with bright young people, with chairs and couches placed in alcoves for reading, as well as its own coffee shop, with a selection of baked goods, all in one large store.It was designed to be a place for social gatherings; far more than merely a setting for the buying of books! And it always lured me into its seductive web,. I closed my eyes and wailed. If this is some mental illness manifesting itself, I want to be ill for the rest of my life, I want to be haunted by you every single day.I opened my eyes – he was gone. I felt the glass with my palms, the t-shirt dropped. I jumped up and looked down to see where he was but he was nowhere. My knees gave in curling me into a naked mess on the floor. My eyes open, like a zoom lens, unblinkingly focusing on the skin of my arm next to my head. For months, I tried so. .’ she whispered, touching the cold glass, feeling that chill run up from the surface through her veins. Then her eyes shifted to the woman in the photo. Nearly twice her age. Socially acceptable. Blond to her brunette. Wise to her novice. Educated against her street smarts. Everything she wasn’t. Her smile broadened, widened to the point of pain. She looked up at the cross just above the table and drew a tight breath, forcing the air from her lungs, ‘take care of him…’ She put down the.