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It startles him, when he realizes that Buzz is gone. There's the basic, expected level of startlement; he'd always been certain (somehow, subconsciously) that Buzz would be a permanent fixture of his life, and so the absence is like discovering that a part of himself is missing ... but there's also a deeper, troubling level, and he's trying to sort that out at the lakeshore.
Buzz has apparently been gone for a while, and John hadn't noticed. (A stone, thrown into the water.) At least a few weeks--long enough that it can't be a vacation or a trip out to fetch medication. (Another stone, this one skipping across the surface of the lake.) Of course, saying that they had been friendly would be an overstatement (and the next stone skips six times before it sinks), but there had been a day when he could play the opening notes to 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' and expect to hear someone jump in with an Ethel Merman impression--
--but all of that is a kind of subtext, really. His head is aching, his chest is tight, and he's humming 'The Carousel Waltz' as he searches out smooth stones for skipping.
Buzz has apparently been gone for a while, and John hadn't noticed. (A stone, thrown into the water.) At least a few weeks--long enough that it can't be a vacation or a trip out to fetch medication. (Another stone, this one skipping across the surface of the lake.) Of course, saying that they had been friendly would be an overstatement (and the next stone skips six times before it sinks), but there had been a day when he could play the opening notes to 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' and expect to hear someone jump in with an Ethel Merman impression--
--but all of that is a kind of subtext, really. His head is aching, his chest is tight, and he's humming 'The Carousel Waltz' as he searches out smooth stones for skipping.
