Open Water

After releasing his misery, the narrator spends time walking the dog. He appreciates the animal’s freedom to create its own narrative. He wants to send photos of the dog to the woman but doesn’t. He wore the black hoodie that she threw back at him until her scent began to fade. He compares that process to the dissolution of their relationship, which he simply observed happening. He feels like a coward who betrayed his lover.

Six months after the break up, the narrator puts the hoodie on again, deciding to be honest. It is the first morning in months that he has felt like himself. He thinks of a concert he went to where two songs were melded the way he was meshed with his lover. Feeling seems more important than thinking.

Repeating the phrase “you came here to” or “you want to” at the beginning of almost every section (145, 151), the narrator describes everything that he wants to share with his former lover. He likens it to whispering to each other late at night in bed. He wants to tell her about his parents dancing to nostalgic