James Hall

Texas 1964

The taste of sweat filled my mouth as I placed the paper onto my tongue. A familiar tingle crawled from there to the corners of my jaw; only a matter of minutes now until it starts. I take Robin by the arm, my brother who's already starting to experience the change in reality that's soon to take me, and we start for the barn. The 800 feet or so between the back porch of our old rancher, and the double door entrance to the rundown red barnhouse, stretched forward in front of me as if every step we took closer only forced it further away. This simple walk turned into an absolute journey as the stars danced across the deep blue and black of the night sky, pulling my eyes up and away from the ocean of grass, whose waves flowed back and forth with the gentle breathing of the wind.