Hillbilly Elegy

water, and when I returned, Casper was
staring at me, wondering what on earth
his human was doing awake at such an
odd hour. It was two o’clock in the
morning—probably about the same time
it was when I first woke from the
terrifying dream over twenty years
earlier. There was no Mamaw to
comfort me. But there were my two dogs
on the floor, and there was the love of
my life lying in bed. Tomorrow I would
go to work, take the dogs to the park, buy
groceries with Usha, and make a nice
dinner. It was everything I ever wanted.
So I patted Casper’s head and went back
to sleep.