A Perfect Night to Go to China

I went out again that night....I looked in garden sheds, in parking lots, in backyards. I whispered his name down dark stairwells. I said, "Simon, are you there?" A dog chased me from a back porch, snarling, pulling on a chain. A drunk staggered out of the darkness at me. I peered into an abandoned car. Nothing, not even a sensation. I tried to feel him, not think him, but I kept wondering, Where would I take him? Fifty-eight pounds. Where would you go? It had to be nearby. But when I stopped in front of a house or started up a driveway, I could feel a sort of invisible door close...He was slipping away from me. I said, "Don't go, Simon. Don't go."Gilmour, David is the author of 'A Perfect Night to Go to China', published 2005 under ISBN 9780887621673 and ISBN 0887621678.