A Mango-Shaped Space (23 page)

“He loved sleeping on that blanket,” Dad says on his way out of my room. I hug the blanket to my chest and then sniff it a few more times before laying it at the foot of the bed where it belongs.

That night I dream I’m at the county fair with Zack. We’re eating hot dogs with gobs of mustard and laughing at Beth, who’s stuck on top of the Ferris wheel.

When I wake up I swear I can still taste the mustard on my tongue. It doesn’t take me too long to figure out what the dream means.

Author’s Note

For more information on synesthesia, check out the comprehensive Web site run by Professor Sean Day (
http://www.users.muohio. edu/daysa/synesthesia.html
),
The Man Who Tasted Shapes
by Dr. Richard E. Cytowic, and
Synaesthesia: Classic and Contemporary Readings
, edited by Simon Baron-Cohen and John E. Harrison. Two places to find help dealing with the death of a pet are the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement (
http://www.aplb.org
) and the Pet Loss Support Page (
http://www.pet-loss.net
). These two Web sites offer local support centers, counselors, hot lines, and more. A selection of books to guide readers through the grieving process include
The Loss of a Pet
by Wallace Sife and
When Your Pet Dies: How to Cope with Your Feelings
by Jamie Quackenbush and Denise Graveline. For younger readers, try Dr. Diane Pomerance’s
When Your Pet Dies
, Christine Davis’s
For Every Cat an Angel
and
For Every Dog an Angel
, Cynthia Rylant’s
Dog Heaven
and
Cat Heaven
, and Judith Viorst’s
The Tenth Good Thing about Barney.

Acknowledgments

I owe a debt of gratitude to my agent, Ginger Knowlton, for her unflagging faith; my esteemed editor, Maria Modugno, for embracing
Mango
and giving the book such a wonderful home; and to Sean Day and the synesthetes on his Internet list who so generously shared their stories and answered my questions. I am also truly grateful to my early readers for their insights and patience: Laura Hoffman, Stuart P. Levine, Hayley Mitchell Haugen, Martin Lowenstein, Allison M. Dickson, Jennifer Mass, William Siedler, Michele Wells, Justin Conforti, and Stacey Lowenstein. You guys are cooler than Buffy. Okay, almost.

A special thank you to Judy Blume and Karen Cushman for being so supportive, warm, and inspiring. It’s been a great gift.