excerpt
On Saturday morning he talked to the pair about a trinket he’d
admired. Would they pick it up while he wrote some postcards?
Johnny retrieving the car, Ace stuffed the last of his money into the
girl’s hand. It totalled a few thousand U.S. dollars.
– Buy yourself something nice, girl.
Midnight lifted her dress and inserted the roll into a place it was
unlikely to be discovered.
– I get you a special present, she said. Something to remember me.
But Ace would never receive the gift — or so he believed as he
stood on the balcony and watched the rental speed away. He hurriedly
filled a suitcase and flagged the airport shuttle.
The following year was a prosperous one for Courier North. Commodity
prices had spiked and the mines were reopening. Neal broke
his vow and married a Filipina half his age. He’d met Conchita at
Sally’s and decided to keep her.
Ace began feeling poorly just before freeze-up. Tests confirmed
the doctor’s suspicions.
Neal bought him out and hired a young pilot to handle the longer
flights. Ace retired to his cabin on the banks of the river, passing the
time feeding the deer and listening to the wolves howl. Sometimes
his old friend would fly low, skimming the treetops, an aerial
how-do.
Nights he couldn’t sleep, Ace would sometimes upend the box of
photos and spread them out on the table. It was while rummaging
through his memories that Midnight’s last words came back to him:
I get you a present to remember me.
What could it have been? he wondered. But then the light began
to fade, and it didn’t matter anymore.
Manolis Aligizakis 