46

THE BOY STOOD AT THE edge of the valley. He left the shopping cart in the roadside weeds and he was about to go under when he heard the scream from beneath. A shrill cry muffled by the vines. He looked up and down the road. Thought maybe it was some animal he had never heard before. Then there was another scream and he knew it was a woman. Maybe their woman come back from wherever she had been and her and the man picking up where they left off. There was one more shriek and it was not the scream of argument or hate but it was the sound of bad dreams and he knew the difference. He looked in the direction that the screams had come from and he watched for movement, little humps of struggle from beneath. But the valley lay still. He waited for another scream but there was only silence.