Cuttlefish | Will Harris | The New York Overview of Books

We have been sitting on the ground. I began writing
because the window darkened and the grass grew
vivid. By morning, half the timber have been
submarine. What was it about being younger and
wanting to put in writing? You stated it wasn’t selection, it
was dictation. You needed to ask. A frog leapt

by means of the cat flap taking refuge by our ft.
You knew I had a brother, although we’d solely met
that evening. Every time you neglect and bear in mind
the expertise turns into more true. Like lightning
in reverse the fuse blew. I used to be stirring a pot
of dal, your canine Annie asleep on the ground beside

me, loud night breathing. We went to a café whose identify
rhymed with dal, me enjoying with a small
saltshaker, you speaking about your brother. He had
to go and also you have been about to go along with him however then
you’d modified your thoughts. That evening there was an
accident. One second he was in his automotive asking if

you needed to come back and also you have been about to and
that was that. We have been strangers in a circle consuming
peach cobbler. Somebody performed “Galway Lady” on
a toddler’s toy guitar. It’s me! It’s me! you screamed.
You used to reside on Grafton Avenue in Boston. Too
late to depart and raining now, we talked about

your brother. It was after school that you simply began
writing. Lightning crackled within the air. You have been all
alongside me. I watched you warmth a pot of dal, your canine
asleep beside you. You deliberate to depart by
twenty-three however modified your thoughts. To speak with
shadows you turned a shade. Your eyes have been

crimson. You appeared like him. I didn’t know you had
a brother. You needed to ask, you don’t must consider.
We have been sitting on my mother and father’ sofa. You stated it
wasn’t selection. You have been my brother. We have been
occasions in language. The window darkened and
the grass grew vivid. Are you able to hear that, cuttlefish?