\u201cWhat is it we\u2019re going to go look at?\u201d Dave asked as we walked through the mall. I was surprised how few people were there shopping, but I guessed it was because it was a week day.
\u201cSunglasses. I\u2019m telling you, Dave, these are the ugliest you\u2019ve ever seen. They would have been great for that day in college when we had the \u2018Ugliest Outfit\u2019 contest.\u201d
\u201cI didn\u2019t know the Galleria had a gag shop.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s not intended to be, but these will make you gag.\u201d
As we were nearing the store, I saw a girl walk into the shop ahead of us who just about took my breath away. I stopped dead in my tracks and could feel my heart pounding in my chest like faulty pistons in a Ford Granada. If I had been prone to such things, I think I would have had a heart attack. The quick and unexpected (even to me) stop on the crutches almost made me fall on my face, so I had to take a moment to regain my balance.
\u201cWhat\u2014what is it?\u201d Dave asked. The look on my face must have scared him. I imagine I went almost completely white\u2014maybe even green.
\u201cThat girl that just walked in.\u201d
\u201cSo? She was cute; but we\u2019ve seen several of those today. She wasn\u2019t as pretty as Heather, I didn\u2019t think.\u201d
\u201cNo. This girl looked like \u2026 like someone I used to know.\u201d
\u201cLet\u2019s go see her,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s her.\u201d
\u201cCouldn\u2019t be.\u201d
\u201cWhy not? Houston\u2019s a big city.\u201d He smiled, \u201cShoot, I bet there\u2019s more than two hundred people in this town. I hit that many cars in the parking lot.\u201d
\u201cBut this couldn\u2019t be her, Dave.\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s a small world, Bat.\u201d
\u201cBut it\u2019s not the Twilight Zone.\u201d
\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d
\u201cThe girl she reminded me of is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWhat is it we\u2019re going to go look at?\u201d Dave asked as we walked through the mall. I was surprised how few people were there shopping, but I guessed it was because it was a week day.\u201cSunglasses. I\u2019m telling you, Dave, these are the ugliest you\u2019ve ever seen. They would have been great for that … <\/p>\n