Read Disposition of Remains for Free Online Page B

in a relationship with my high school sweetheart, Michael. By that point, Michael and I had been together for four years—an eternity in teenage terms. He was the only person I’d ever had sex with and we had our entire lives planned out by the time we were nineteen years old.
    Michael and I met while taking Renaissance Art History at Las Vegas High, and we were both crazy about it. After high school, I enrolled in nursing school and he was studying to become a teacher. It was our dream to move to Italy. We spent countless days concocting our plan. I would obtain a travel position as a nurse, and he would teach English abroad. Our hope was to land jobs in Florence. Our plan was perfect. But then my mother got sick. I continued with school, but my motivation began to fade. The idea of going to Italy seemed foolish, and Michael and I drifted apart as I began to devote all of my spare time to caring for my mother.
    It had been suggested by my mother’s doctor that I seek out a probate lawyer and acquire power of attorney while she still had her wits about her. It was very painful for me. But Evan Altman, Attorney at Law, came highly recommended for his compassionate advice. I met Evan while his practice was still in Las Vegas, before he moved his office to Los Angeles. He seemed so understanding as he drew up the papers for me. Evan was the master at compartmentalizing his behaviors.
    Evan pursued me heavily right from the start. He was this big, strong, handsome, older man. He managed to take care of everything for my mother and me, and at the time, I found his presence very comforting. I broke up with Michael to be with Evan, and I’m certain that my doing so hurt Michael deeply.
    I began to wonder what Michael might be doing at that very moment, as the vortex’s energy continued to engulf me. I pictured him lecturing to a crowd of rowdy Italian fourth-graders. I imagined him feasting on me with his eyes and smiling, all while flipping his hair out of his face, as he always did. Finally, I had an image of the two of us in bed. Michael was tenderly caressing my shoulder when I became aware that someone was actually shaking me. This time it was Paul.
    “Are you hungry, sleepyhead?”
    Good Lord, it had happened again! Somehow I had developed narcolepsy. I rubbed my eyes and sat up.
    “I could eat.”
    I couldn’t remember the last time I was actually hungry, but it felt good to be a part of something, even if that something was sitting by a river with three strangers in the middle of a vortex.
    After we ate the sandwiches that Misty had packed, we devoted a few hours to setting up camp next to the river. I ducked into my designated tent and changed into some of the clothes that Misty had brought for me. Wilbur and Paul embarked upon a strenuous hike to the peak of Cathedral Rock while Misty explained to me the entire vortex phenomenon. Though I didn’t fully grasp the content, I began to realize that she wasn’t just some spiritual loony-toon. She was just very in touch with herself as well as everything and everyone around her. I felt deeply grateful to have met her.
    By the time night fell, Misty and Paul had arranged a bunch of flashlights as a makeshift “ campfire” around which campfire stories could be told. It turned out that actual fires were prohibited in the area. It was as if the Vortex Authorities, somewhere, worried that perhaps the vortex would convert a fire into some sort of nuclear explosion. The idea didn’t seem inconceivable to me, seeing as my reality was shifting so fast.
    While sitting around the relatively tepid “fire,” we chatted lightly about the events of the day. Since nature was our toilet, and was also calling, I grabbed a piece of the “kindling” and walked off a bit to make my mark. I wasn’t fond of the idea, but I was trying to embrace the whole camping experience. Just as I’d located an appropriate tree, I smelled a horrible scent flowing downwind. I had waited too long