I look out the dirt-smeared window. A huge flock of pigeons has just descended on the block, and my heart starts racing. Aren't pigeons a death omen? Yes, I think they are. That confirms it. I refuse to leave my bed today.
Through the thin door that protects me from the germs outside, I hear a baby crying. I think the baby belongs to a woman named Roxy. Oh, please make that baby stop! If only I could do something about the crying myself, but I can't because I'm not getting out of bed today. No, thank you.
He turned his head to the window and glimpsed a woman on the street below wearing elbow-length rubber gloves, a surgical mask and many pieces of jewelry featuring the Evil Eye. Cobb was familiar with the Evil Eye; he knew it's power and respected those who wore it. He opened the window an inch and shouted down to the woman, "Oy." The woman looked up and her eyes spoke of unspeakable horrors. Cobb could not be one hundred percent sure, but he sensed a mysterious, Geisha-like smile underneath the mask that covered her nose and mouth. A new chill entered Cobb's bones, traveled to his tummy and provoked butterfly-like flutterings.
ReplyDeleteHe shut the window and got back to working on his Post-Modern Nativity Scene, where Jesus still cried blood and Mary was exposed as the adultress Cobb always knew she was.
It sets us on a rail. I look up and there's Phoebe Kules looking right at me. She can't be. Her eyes are locked in a gaze. This can't happen.
ReplyDelete