“Did you hear one of these doors just now?”

“I didn’t hear it, but I felt it.”

“What did it feel like?”

Closing my eyes, I sniff the warm air while listening to the chiming of the far-away church bells. I imagine them to be old and cracked, like the hearts of the disbelievers on the many streets below.

“Its presence made me feel like I had awoken from some strange dream, only to realise I was still dreaming.”

Picking a leaf from one of the smaller branches of the tree, Meeko twirls it between her thumb and forefinger before allowing it to fall. The wind takes it in its grasp, and together we watch as it spins to the ground. There are people down there now. None of them are aware of us, however. Instead, they look at their phones and talk among themselves about the things normal people do. Looking at Meeko, I can tell she’s thinking about spitting out another mouthful of phlegm. Nudging her in the ribs, she grins at me like a naughty kid.

“They won’t know what hit ‘em.”

“I thought I was supposed to be the childish one in this relationship?”

“Yeah, most of the time.”

Hacking up a gob of awfulness, she launches it out of her mouth with a squishy thwack. Through the air, it travels like a bullet, and even though I know those below won’t be able to get hold of us because of our lofty position, I cling to her like a little boy clutching his mother.

“Take that, fuckers.”

Giggling as her mouthful of gob hits the leg of a bewildered guy with an impressive quiff almost as remarkable as my own, she snorts an evil grunt as the poor sod looks around trying to figure out where it came from, but to no avail.

“Serves him right,” she scoffs.

“For what?” I ask.

“For being down there. He should be up here, like us.”

Rubbing the small of her back as Hachikō balances on our branch with exquisite precision, I light two cigarettes. Feeding her the first one, I take a drag on the second and am pleasantly surprised to find myself lightheaded. Holding onto her even more, the sense of being in a dream intensifies so much so that my heart breaks out in a series of palpitations.

X and I: A Novel and A Journal for Damned Lovers on Amazon UK

X and I: A Novel and A Journal for Damned Lovers on Amazon US