Play & Book Excerpts
The Wake Up
(Lake Union Publishing)
© 2017 Catherine Ryan Hyde
Chapter One
Clouds and Shadows
Clouds and Shadows
The phone jangled Aiden out of sleep. His heart raced, and he knocked over a plastic drinking glass and the alarm clock while reaching to grab the receiver.
His panic didn’t last. The voice on the other end of the line soothed him on contact. It felt like a drink of cold water, its relief spreading down through his gut on a hot and dusty day.
It was only one word. But it repaired everything.
“Hey.”
It was feminine and smooth, that word. It felt like everything in the world Aiden had found to love. Or maybe that’s genuinely what it was. He could feel his heart expand, or at least the sensation of it filling. Swelling. It ached. It was painful in a very real way, but Aiden wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
“Oh,” he mumbled, still mostly asleep. “Gwen. Hey.”
“I’m sorry. I know it’s late. I know I woke you up. I knew I would, but . . .”
Aiden sat up on the edge of the bed. He was wearing only boxer shorts, and the air in the room felt blissfully cool against his bare chest and back.
“But what? Are you okay?”
In the silence that followed, he watched shadows cast by the branches of scrub oak trees sway on his bedroom wall. He looked through his window to see the dark shapes of his sleeping brood mares in the nearest pasture.
“I guess so,” she said. “I guess I just needed some reassurance.”
“About what?”
“Tomorrow.”
“What about it?”
“You’re not worried about it?”
“No. Not at all. Why would I be? I’m looking forward to it.”
“Just . . . you know.” There was a lot that could be read into her voice. Aiden knew that. He listened as hard as he could to every word she didn’t say. “You meeting the kids and all.”
“You’re worried they won’t like me?”
“More that you won’t like them. It’s hard. You know. When you have kids and you meet somebody new.”
“I’m going to love them. I like kids. I told you.”
“I know,” she said. But she didn’t sound as though that settled much. “I should have had you meet them sooner. I was a little surprised you didn’t press the issue.”
For a moment nobody said anything more.
“What can I say to reassure you?” he asked.
“Nothing, I guess. Tomorrow just has to get here. I’m sorry I woke you up for no real reason.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Go back to sleep.”
“I will.”
He didn’t, though. He thought he would but he didn’t. Something about her tone. About the subtext of her words. She was worried. Not just mildly insecure. Genuinely worried.
Maybe she was worried about nothing. But Aiden couldn’t shake the thought that maybe she knew something he didn’t.
His panic didn’t last. The voice on the other end of the line soothed him on contact. It felt like a drink of cold water, its relief spreading down through his gut on a hot and dusty day.
It was only one word. But it repaired everything.
“Hey.”
It was feminine and smooth, that word. It felt like everything in the world Aiden had found to love. Or maybe that’s genuinely what it was. He could feel his heart expand, or at least the sensation of it filling. Swelling. It ached. It was painful in a very real way, but Aiden wouldn’t have traded it for anything.
“Oh,” he mumbled, still mostly asleep. “Gwen. Hey.”
“I’m sorry. I know it’s late. I know I woke you up. I knew I would, but . . .”
Aiden sat up on the edge of the bed. He was wearing only boxer shorts, and the air in the room felt blissfully cool against his bare chest and back.
“But what? Are you okay?”
In the silence that followed, he watched shadows cast by the branches of scrub oak trees sway on his bedroom wall. He looked through his window to see the dark shapes of his sleeping brood mares in the nearest pasture.
“I guess so,” she said. “I guess I just needed some reassurance.”
“About what?”
“Tomorrow.”
“What about it?”
“You’re not worried about it?”
“No. Not at all. Why would I be? I’m looking forward to it.”
“Just . . . you know.” There was a lot that could be read into her voice. Aiden knew that. He listened as hard as he could to every word she didn’t say. “You meeting the kids and all.”
“You’re worried they won’t like me?”
“More that you won’t like them. It’s hard. You know. When you have kids and you meet somebody new.”
“I’m going to love them. I like kids. I told you.”
“I know,” she said. But she didn’t sound as though that settled much. “I should have had you meet them sooner. I was a little surprised you didn’t press the issue.”
For a moment nobody said anything more.
“What can I say to reassure you?” he asked.
“Nothing, I guess. Tomorrow just has to get here. I’m sorry I woke you up for no real reason.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Go back to sleep.”
“I will.”
He didn’t, though. He thought he would but he didn’t. Something about her tone. About the subtext of her words. She was worried. Not just mildly insecure. Genuinely worried.
Maybe she was worried about nothing. But Aiden couldn’t shake the thought that maybe she knew something he didn’t.
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Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of thirty-two published books. Her bestselling 1999 novel, Pay It Forward, adapted into a major Warner Bros. motion picture starring Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, made the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults list and was translated into more than two dozen languages for distribution in more than thirty countries. Her novels Becoming Chloe and Jumpstart the World were included on the ALA’s Rainbow List. Jumpstart the World was also a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards and won Rainbow Awards in two categories. The Language of Hoofbeats won a Rainbow Award.
Her short stories have been published in many journals, including the Antioch Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, the Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, and the Sun and in several anthologies, including the bestselling Dog Is My Co-Pilot. Her short fiction received honorable mention in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest, a second-place win for the Tobias Wolff Award, and nominations for Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Award, and the Pushcart Prize. Three have also been cited in Best American Short Stories. Hyde is the founder and former president of the Pay It Forward Foundation. As a professional public speaker, she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University, met with AmeriCorps members at the White House and shared a dais with Bill Clinton. |
