The Bureau of Dreams to be Continued by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

The Bureau of Dreams to be Continued

Page 74

She paused at a story about a bear who wanted to be a ballerina. The illustrations were simple, but the bear’s expression; hopeful, determined, was oddly moving. Nora read it aloud to no one, her voice echoing off the rafters. She imagined a child, maybe her mother, curled up in a blanket fort, reading the same story with a flashlight under her chin.

Outside, the rain softened. Nora closed the magazine gently, as if it might crack. She didn’t find the summer clothes, but she did find something else; a moment, preserved in pulp and ink, where Humpty Dumpty boxed with a kangaroo and a bear danced in pink slippers.

She took the magazine downstairs and left it on the coffee table. That night, her daughter would ask, “Who’s this egg guy?” And Nora would say, “Let me show you.”