Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“Er, these totally cute and friendly fuzzy, uh, bunnies, that they want to escape from because, ya know. Bunnies. So...carrot-hungry.”
Bram laughed.
“Anyway, the point is that the movie is amazing and harrowing because of the narrowing and widening of the caves and the way you feel as a viewer depending on if the camera is pointed into a narrowing cave or a widening opening. That’s where I got the idea for that hotel, I mean. Since you asked,” he trailed off.
“I could listen to you talk about this stuff forever,” Bram said. It had slipped out before he knew he was going to say it. But it was also true.
Zachary didn’t seem to know what to say to that. Then he glanced up at Bram uncertainly. “You said you might want to watch one. Do you?”
Bram wanted to keep hanging out with Zachary more than almost anything, but the idea of watching a horror movie filled him with, well, horror.
“Yeeeessss?”
“Well, so long as you’re quite certain and enthusiastic about it.”
Bram smiled, but confessed, “I seriously get very freaked out. One time my sisters were watching some sleepaway camp movie with a stabby killer person stabbing everyone.” Zachary smiled familiarly. “I accidentally saw some of it while I was going to and from the shower, and I was scared to go out in the dark for weeks.”
It had been months, really, and he had only seen maybe five seconds of it, but in that five seconds, a girl with a blond ponytail had been eviscerated. Her life snuffed out in an instant. He shuddered just thinking about it.
“Yeah, I kinda got that,” Zachary said. “We could watch a non-scary movie.”
The relief that washed through Bram was overwhelming. He was all for overcoming fears, but...er, maybe not just yet. And maybe not this fear.
“Oh. Well then, yeah.”
Zachary led him to the couch. Unlike the cozy—that is, beaten-in-by-seven-people—couches of his youth, this one was more art than furniture. It was cool gray with clean lines and a light wooden frame. It also looked like Bram might reduce it to kindling if he flopped down on it.
“Midcentury modern,” Zachary said, mistaking Bram’s trepidation for curiosity.
Bram lowered himself to the couch very gently. He’d always been large—his whole family was—and when he started working construction his already large frame packed on muscle quickly.
Mostly he liked his body and his stature. It made him feel good, being strong enough to do nearly whatever he wanted to do. But times like this, he wished he could fold himself just a bit smaller.
After thirty seconds of waiting for the couch to creak and threaten, Bram relaxed. It was actually more comfortable than it looked. Which wasn’t a mean feat, since it had looked about as comfortable as a graham cracker.
“Okay, what do you want to watch?”
Zachary opened a midcentury highboy hutch—Zachary’s words; it was just a cabinet—to reveal a DVD collection.
“I know, I know, who still has DVDs when you can stream everything.”
“My parents. Hell, they still have VHS tapes. We never had TV when I was younger, just watched the same videos over and over.”
“Could you not afford it?” Zachary asked. His tone was neutral, no judgment or pity, as Bram had often heard when people learned he hadn’t gotten new clothes or video games or his own bedroom as a kid.
“Nah, we just lived pretty off the grid. There was a lot of other stuff to do. Take care of the animals, tend the garden, cook. There are a lot of us, so dinner was quite an affair.”
Zachary was looking at him with interest.
“Did you live on a commune?” he asked delightedly.
“Not exactly, but my parents would be happy to think so. It was just our family, but there are seven of us, and we grew most of our own food, had goats for milk and cheese, and chickens for eggs.”
“Wow. That sounds...”
Zachary paused and seemed to argue with himself about what to say. Some people said it sounded idyllic or perfect or magical. Some said it sounded like hell. All of which were a little bit true.
“Smelly.”
Bram laughed. “Yeah, well. Animals do smell like animals.”
“Hmm. I don’t really know anything about animals.”
“Did you grow up in Wyoming?”
A shadow passed over Zachary’s face.
“Yes. I grew up in Cheyenne. We moved here when I was sixteen.”
That made more sense.
Bram rose and stood behind Zachary to peruse the movies. It was almost all horror, judging by titles like It Follows, Repulsion, and Drag Me to Hell. But there were also mysteries and some science fiction, some classic old Hollywood romances.
“Honestly, I don’t know what any of these movies are, so I’m not going to be much help.”
“What genre are you in the mood for?”
Bram shrugged. “Why don’t you just pick something? I’m sure whatever you pick will be great.”
“Okay.”
Zachary put on a movie called Let the Right One In.