I unlocked the front door and called through the dark, I’m here! The voice that answered belonged to someone I did not expect to be home. I threw my keys on the floor next to my bag and ran up the stairs. In the distance I heard the neighbor’s dog barking himself to sleep. She lay in bed, smiling, looking over the bridge of her glasses.
I thought you were someone else.
Was that George outside? I asked.
She knew nothing and had heard nothing. I grabbed a tuft of her soft hair and pulled her to my lips.
How did you get here so fast?
I don’t know, I said. I’m here, I’m here. I’m here, nowhere else, the only place I could be.
That’s why you’re here?
Yes, I replied, I just told you. Here—right where I should be.
Jeremy Scheuer 