Tok, Alaska

6

The next day came. Erik had now been at the Asylum for a full day, and was starting to feel more comfortable there. As it was Friday, Molly, Robert and Henry were gone. There were still plenty of people around. Thomas was once again making omelets. After eating and turning the bed back into a couch, Erik headed up to the circle. Walter was tinkering with a guitar while Thomas, Leo, Walt and Sandy sat on the various benches and chairs. No one spoke.

"So this is life here," Erik said.

"What do you mean?" asked Walt.

"Well... there just doesn't seem to be much going on."

"We don't get bored, if that's what you're thinking," said Thomas. "We keep each other company."

"I see. I don't know. I'm just so used to being alone. I'm an only child."

"I can't even imagine that," said Walt. "Our entire lives are intertwined, like branches on a tree."

"Yeah." Erik was suddenly reminded of how utterly alone he had felt in New York. He felt grateful that he was somewhere that, if not bustling with activity, was at least not lonesome. He sat there for a while, and then went back down to the house.

After changing his clothes in the bathroom, he spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between playing Super Mario Bros. and reading Demian. He felt a little funny playing video games indoors after having driven across the country for a week to ostensibly find adventure, so he only played a few games at a time before returning to Walter's book. He still couldn't make it past World 5.

The time flew by and before he knew it, it was 5:30 and Kendra was calling him.

"Erik!"

He marked his place in the book and closed it. "Yeah?"

"Time to go to the poetry reading. If you still want to go."

"Oh, definitely," he said. "I'll be right there."

He stuck the slim volume in his right pants pocket and ran outside. The big white van was indeed started up, ready to go. Thomas was at the wheel, with Walt in the passenger's seat. Walter was in the backseat, on the left. Kendra was standing outside.

"Why don't you sit in the middle?" said Kendra. "You're the skinniest."

Erik obeyed and got in the middle, and Kendra sat to his right and shut the door.

"Poetry ho," declared Thomas, and they were off. First came the trek down Johnsville Road, at the foot of which Thomas turned right, the opposite direction from the center of Tok and the Busy Bee, from which Erik had come. Everyone was quiet until Kendra asked, "So, does anyone have anything new to read tonight?"

"I have a new poem," said Thomas. "It's about my travels from Texas to Alaska."

"That's a good topic," said Kendra. "That's something that's been important in your life, of course."

"Yeah," chimed in Walt. "I just have another nature poem. I was standing in front of the forsythia bush and it inspired me."

"Do you have anything to read?" Erik asked Walter, in the backseat.

"Nah," he said. "I mean, I try to write. But nothing's struck my fancy lately."

Erik was suddenly aware of something in his right front pants pocket. He felt it and realized that it was the copy of Demian that Walter had lent him. He leafed through it, trying to find something to perhaps read at the event. As they continued to drive toward their destination, he looked for something that meant something to him at the moment, as Kendra had put it. Eventually he settled on something.