Free Teaching the Dog to Read by Jonathan Carroll Page A

and dreams to see how it will affect them. That’s one of the reasons why you both fell in love with your women. Even old Gorbog had an Alice.”
    Tony Night was furious. Angry as all hell he stood up, threw what was left of his sandwich on the floor, marched right over to Dave in his chair and pointed a quivering finger at him. “Then what does happen to us now, Dave? Sooner or later do we go up in smoke too like the caveman or him?”
    Dave stared at Tony’s discarded sandwich a few moments. “No. You two just now became part of their dreams. You’ll come and go in the stories they tell themselves in their sleep for as long as they both live. It’s a kind of immortality—in their dreams you’ll never age beyond today.”
    There was a pause when the two Tonys looked at each other to see their reactions to what had been said. Finally one said to the other, “I don’t think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Louie.”
     

     
    Back in room 17, Tony Areal had fallen asleep holding Lena’s hand. She was perfectly content to sit there and watch him, safe in the knowledge that soon enough he would wake and be back in her world again, in their world now, where all good things were possible and she would do everything in her power to be a worthy mate for him.
    His eyes began to twitch and she could see his eyeballs move around beneath the lids. Tony was dreaming. Lena remembered his dream about the can opener and how such a silly little object changed the course of both their lives. She smiled thinking maybe he’s having another can opener dream. Or maybe he’s dreaming about us together somewhere wonderful.
     
     
    THE END