Outside, the air felt cold and oily against my skin, the night and everything else as black as I'd ever seen it. It looked like a nightmare, even in the backyard of my oasis, but I smiled through it anyway. With Jacek's hand in mine, the horrors didn't seem so frightening. They seemed farther away, a mountain to scale one step at a time. And I was, mashed potato brain and all. If I could just stick it together with some gravy or something, I'd be fine. It'd be like Thanksgiving in my head. ...