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effect blended well with the lasagna. While the meal wouldn’t pass the scrutiny of a typical Italian lover, it was far better than he could’ve done on his own. Horace pushed his plate away after three helpings
    “Finished already?” Janice watched him with a smile. “Good thing I bought the family size.” There were two things about men she learned over the last couple of years. The first being, if a man is allowed to, he’d eat like a pig. And second, he’d eat one out of house and home. Knowing those facts and seeing them in operation, she couldn’t help but wonder how Horace stayed so thin. If she ate half of what he did, she’d buy stock in one of those diet companies.
    Horace patted his flat stomach and smiled. Being proud of himself was one thing but to help Janice feel good about her meal, even if store bought, went unparalleled. “I couldn’t eat another bite.” He responded after stifling a belch.
    Shaking her head, she put the empty cardboard container on the floor for Buster. She knew it wasn’t healthy or smart to feed a dog table scraps , but she couldn’t stop pampering her little boy. When she looked up, she changed that to her boys. Watching Horace go about clearing the table in preparation for that night’s movie, Caddyshack , she could only smile and shake her head. At least Horace was housebroken.
     
    *****
     
    Franklin remained unmoving except for the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Even his eyes barely moved as he counted the black spots in the drop ceiling tiles. It was something he started doing to keep his mind active. He exhausted the line of thought based on figuring out what the tiles were made of earlier and settled on them being made of some sort of cardboard or fiberglass threads.
    Asking the nurses hadn’t helped as they didn’t know and only smiled at him, asking, “Can we get you anything?” Each time he shook his head or said no, but he was curious as to how they’d react if he asked for a fifth of scotch or a line of cocaine. He never touched either of them, he was a beer drinker, but it was hard for him to not imagine the looks he’d get.
    Yet , on some level of consciousness he knew what they’d say or do if he asked, thus he decided to entertain himself with counting the black marks on the surface of the tiles. What caused those marks? He wondered, but didn’t lose count. If he did, then he’d have to start over and he didn’t want that to happen. The longer he could keep his mind active, the longer he hoped to keep the images away. Not yet sure he was insane, he felt himself slipping.
    “Why do you resist so? Are you that ungrateful?”
    Franklin’s eyes flew open and he slammed his hands on the mattress at his sides. He was sure he hadn’t fallen asleep. Although he didn’t look, he could sense Tanok to his left. “Leave me alone.” His voice was low and his anger was beginning to boil.
    “It is not up to you or me. I helped you, will make you a hero and all you do is fight against me.”
    Tanok didn’t move, Franklin was sure of that, but somehow his face became clear and unhindered by the shadows.
    Franklin pushed himself into a sitting position. “ You helped me? My life’s been turned upside down since you appeared. Anyway… you don’t exist.”
    Tanok gazed at him with a mixture of kindness and impatience. “You have been through much and I cannot help that. I am here to help you. If you do not accept that, then you will be erased. I must not fail because of your sensibilities.”
    Franklin stared at him ; the manor Tanok spoke to him was calm and without any emotion. Nothing different from their other conversation except for the threat. “What… do you mean erased?”
    Tanok remained motionless, giving no hint at whatever thoughts passed through his mind. After a moment , he spoke with sorrow in his black eyes, but his voice remained the usual monotone. “You will cease to be.”
    Franklin swung his legs off the side of the bed and