The Blue Girl (39 page)

“Hey,” I say.

“Imogene?” I can hear him waking up by the third syllable of my name. “Is everything okay?”

“It is now. I just wanted someone to talk to.”

I don’t say “someone real,” but that’s what I mean.

“Sorry ’bout waking you,” I add.

“No, that’s okay. I’m glad you called.”

I laugh. “At three o’clock in the morning?”

“Is that what time it is?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Three
A.M.
’s an especially good time to get a phone call from your girlfriend. So long as she’s not breaking up with you.You’re not breaking up with me, are you?”

“No, I just miss you.”

And see, he’s such a good boyfriend that he doesn’t say something like, “But we just saw each other this afternoon.” He says, “Me, too.”

CHARLES DE LINT
is widely credited as having pioneered the contemporary fantasy genre with his urban fantasy
Moonheart
(1984). He has been a seventeen-time finalist for the World Fantasy Award, winning in 2000 for his short story collection
Moonlight and Vines;
its stories are set in de Lint’s popular fictional city of Newford, as were those in two previous story collections,
Dreams Underfoot
and
The Ivory and the Horn.

His novels and short stories have received glowing reviews and numerous other awards, including the singular honor of having eight books chosen for the Modern Library’s reader-selected list of the “Top 100 Books of the Twentieth Century.”

A respected critic in his field, de Lint has been a judge for several prestigious awards, and is currently the primary book reviewer for
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

A professional musician for over twenty-five years, specializing in traditional and contemporary Celtic and American roots music, he frequently performs with his wife, MaryAnn Harris—fellow musician, artist, and kindred spirit.

Charles de Lint and MaryAnn Harris live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Their respective Web sites are
www.charlesdelint.com
and
www.reclectica.com.