The Son and the Sparrow

Chapter Three(v4)

          Chapter Three

Leon awoke with sun blaring through his eyelids and dirt covering his face. He groaned, pressing his head with the palms of his hands. The light felt like a needle through his skull. Fuck, what had happened last night? He couldn’t remember much. An empty bag was in his hand, along with a few beer bottles laying on the ground. Had he really gotten that drunk? He didn’t want to move, although the rocky ground was slicing up his back. Leon brushed his long blonde hair out of his face, and slowly lifted his head. A slab of stone rock stood before him. He frowned at it. The letters on the rock didn’t seem to make sense to him. He stared at it, somehow sensing their importance, and then the words sank into him.

                What was he doing in front of Clay’s headstone?

                He stood, and felt an immediate rush of blood to his head. Leon closed his eyes. Through the pain, something felt familiar. There was something about this, this scene, these feelings, that was like déjà vu. A scene unraveled before him, slowly, one random piece at a time. His hands were trembling as he reached out and touched Clay’s stone.

                “I…I saw you,” he whispered. “I saw you last night and you…” His throat constricted. His entire body halted for a moment, then continued like a computer’s sudden freeze.

                What in the world?

                He opened his eyes again. He was afraid to say it, or even directly think it, but he remembered what he had seen with vivid clarity. The memory was as clear and beautiful as crystal. Tears leaked from Leon’s eyes. “Clay,” he whispered. “My Clay. I can…I can get you back. I can get you back!” He grinned for a moment, and let that knowledge ebb through him. It felt wonderful, like warm light. A miracle.

                “Thank you,” he whispered.

                Something else occurred to him. He checked the time and cursed to himself. It was after one- he had missed Dr. Cole’s appointment. But he couldn’t have. If he missed another session, Charlotte might leave him.

               The distress started slow, then as he realized the situation he began to panic. “Oh shit,” Leon muttered, and stumbled to his car as quickly as his exhausted legs could carry him.

                He could not let Charlotte leave him under any circumstance. He wanted her in his life as much as he wanted Clay. He didn’t care what it took to achieve what needed to be done. For the first time in so long, he felt happiness again, and he would gladly attend a thousand sessions with Cole to keep that happiness.

                Leon drove to Cole’s office laughing as the knowledge hit him again and again. Actually laughing. The awareness that he had seen his son, and would again one day was sweet deliciousness Leon gladly devoured. Every time it occurred to him it tasted just as sweet.

                The world was wonderful.

                Leon knocked on Cole’s office and took a step back. He was smiling. He thought that his face had forgotten what it felt like to smile without bitterness. Cole answered the door, and looked over Leon with some confusion.

                “I thought you said you weren’t coming back.” There were traces of emotional pain on Cole’s face, as though Leon’s outburst had personally upset him.

                “I’m sorry,” Leon apologized. “But I’m ready now. I didn’t mean to miss our session today. I had a very rough night last night. Please, can we do it sometime today instead?”