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Buoys
By Tina Cho
Aaron was watching his father sleep when a bird swept in from the window. His father turned
in his bed, but the sound of the sheets was muffl ed by the twitching of the black feathers as the creature
settled onto the water pipe. Aaron was observing the neck of the bird turn when Mark muttered,
“You are a little late.”
Aaron apologized.
“Or early now, I guess. Th e sun woke me up,” Mark said. He motioned his son to prop up the
bed. Aaron arched his body over the old man and turned the handle counterclockwise until the bed
sat up at a right angle. “Was there an emergency?”
“Sort of.” A woman had fallen into a lake.
Mark smiled. “Well, you can tell me all about it while I take my bath.” Aaron closed the window
and fl icked on the television. He went to the bathroom, squat by the tap while his hand cut through
the column of hot water. From the sound of the water Aaron thought he heard his father hum to the
national anthem.
“Look,” Mark said, pointing at the screen. Aaron returned to his father’s bed. “It’s the lake. Th at
was years ago, wasn’t it? When we drove south for four hours for some lame water because your
mother got ideas in her head from some sailing magazine?”
“Th e boat was fun.”
“We shouldn’t have let you drive, you almost fl ipped us over. But you and your sister had a hard
time getting off in the end, didn’t you?” Aaron answered yes. “And your mother—where was she?”
“She was sitting next to you.”
“No, she was by the bank. I remember she was standing on that grass, waving her arms like
crazy. It was so windy, she was scared.” He paused. “When did she say that she’d visit?”
“Tomorrow,” Aaron answered. Mark turned back to the television. Th e weight seemed to be
leaving his body as his face dissolved into a blank stare. Aaron looked up to check on the bird. Th e
bat sat crumbled in the corner of the ceiling, fl inching.
“What are you looking at?” Mark asked. Mark never liked birds, detested their shrieks and redeyed
glares. Aaron hated being the only one to remember Mark explode then leak, so Aaron kept the
bird to himself. Instead, he swiveled his father’s legs around like a niece in a sundress and carried the
hairless body to the bathroom. Both men looked away as Aaron unbuttoned and slid the garment
magus ~ 40 ~ mabus