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A short story is presented.
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Extract
Bete Noire
Frank Kelso did not sleep well in the desert. He kept his wife, Andrea, awake with his tossing and turning. His mother, Janelle, snored in the adjoining room. Janelle, afflicted with late-stage Parkinson's, was dying. How long she would take was the question. Frank hoped, for Janelle's sake, it would be sooner rather than later. He and Andrea had come from Seattle to Arizona's high desert country to care for Janelle, which was becoming a nearly impossible job as the old woman's disease worsened.
Andrea said, "What is it now?""Another dream," he said. "They come like movie trailers, full of color and motion, one after the other. No wonder the prophets went to the desert for their visions. I think I'm having visions."Andrea got up and went to the bathroom. Frank looked out the window. Somewhere in the starry dark a screech owl made its eerie noise. He turned on the night table lamp. When Andrea came back, he had the pistol in his hand. He said, "I'd been forced to write a confession by the police."Andrea sighed. "I don't want to hear about it. Your last dream gave me nightmares. The buried alive one, you trying to talk with red earth in your mouth. Please put the gun back in the drawer, Frank. You make me nervous."Frank said, "I told the cop, 'Janelle should h...See the full content of this document
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