Metafriction.

 Metafriction. 

Nils called. Could he and Axel come by? I asked Roz. She said “yes” as long as we sat on the front steps at least a meter apart, all of us facing north. I measured. There was plenty of room. “We can sit six feet apart,” I said. “Good.”

     “Yes,” I told Nils. “It’s about Rantrage,” he said.

Nils       and       Axel
and me.

They were going to come over about two. They arrived at twenty after. From the door, I showed them the chalk marks I’d made where they were to sit. “Face the street,” I said though they’d have had a hard time sitting on the steps facing any other direction. “I’ll be out in a minute,” I said. I put on a jacket. It was none too warm to my skin.

     “About Rantrage?” I said when I’d sat down.

     “Yes,” Nils: “I don’t find any of the books on Amazon. And Axel didn’t find any on Cokesbury.”

     “Cokesbury?” I said. “Does that still exist?”

     Axel: “It does.”

     “So, you’re making this stuff up,” Nils said.

     I shook my head. Then, “Look at me,” I said. Then, “No, don’t. North.” Then, “I mean, How could I?”

     “Somebody could,” Nils said.

     “The two of you, maybe.” There was a pause.

“Somebody could be making all of this up,” I said.

     There was another pause.

03.22.20