Teach me to read

"Teach.... to read Julie?" It had been annoying me for as long as I could remember, those words everywhere. They were taunting me in sick laughter. Lingering just out off my grasp.

"You want me to teach you to read?", She was startled from her sleep.

"Yes", If I was to be technical I would have told her I could already read. Just words at a time. I wanted to be able to read sentences, paragraphs all those fictional story that each held their own land, time and meaning and the non-fictional of which spoke of everything since the dawn of humanity.

"And where is this coming from all of a sudden?" She rubbed sleep out of her eye and let out a tired yawn.

I could have told her it was a goal, a desire to make my self feel more human more alive or I could have told her I wished to get these wild thoughts out of my brain and on to paper. But I shrugged.

"No don't give me that, you have your reasons and I can see it on your face."

"My face?" My face was a blank slate no emotion  just gray rotting skin.

"Yes your face," she pokes me playfully. "Your face gives you away."

I blink slowly trying to hide any reaction. Wait why am I doing that? Don't I want to be more human? Is that not my goal here? I try to laugh. I honestly try but my coarse, dry throat seems to be against me and that just make Julie laugh. Making me want to even more.

"Okay, okay, don't give me that look. I'll teach you to read."

She smiled and I willed my dry cracking lips to form a similar gesture.