Refraction | Part 1 | Darwin's Steroids
21) Rifts
Here’s how it happened.
Israel liked to say he’d seen it all, and for the most part, he was correct in this assertion. He had seen babies born, children grow, adults struggle, and old men die. He had seen cities, towns, forests and fields. He had seen mountain streams, and river valleys, tropical beaches and ice-packed harbors. He had seen the insides of boats, airplanes, trucks, trains, a submarine, cars, helicopters, buses, and subways. He had seen Democrats in office, Republicans in office, and Independents lose. He had seen deserts, jungles, tundra, oceans, and plains. He had seen War, Famine, Pestilence, and Plague. He had seen Love, and Beauty, Art and Science. He had seen, to his great satisfaction, many, many naked women. He had seen their secret faces, and their private parts. He had seen the bottoms of bottles, the ends of joints, the dreams of opium, and the nightmares of with-drawl. He had seen offices, barns, apartment buildings, houses, stables, barracks, tents, huts, castles, and shacks. He had seen tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods. He had seen rockets launch into space, ants toil in the earth, and everything there was to be seen in between.
He had been, as they say, around the block.
He had also been down the street, around the corner, through the park, over the bridge, under the sycamore tree, and past the graveyard.
He had lived a long and interesting life, done a lot of things, and been a lot of places. When Israel said he had seen it all, he wasn’t just blowing smoke up your ass. He had damn sure seen most of it.
But he had never seen a dragon, and that’s what he saw on Friday night around 11:30, after catching a late night slice of pie at Ella’s on Twelfth Avenue. Here’s how it happened.
He had been working on the daily crossword in his living room, the News was on the television, but the volume was almost all the way down. About three quarters of the way through the puzzle he caught himself a hankering for a slice of Ella’s raspberry pie. An eloquent combination of tart and sweet, complemented by a dollop of creamy, and based in a foundation of crumbly perfection.
He stood and stretched, pulled out a handkerchief, gave it a mighty blow, inspected it and replaced it in his pocket. He took off his glasses and let them dangle from the gold chain his granddaughter had bought him ten years ago this Christmas. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, picked his pen up off the table, clicked it and stowed it away in the breast pocket of his shirt. He took his old blue cardigan from the back of the wooden chair and put in on, buttoned it. He folded his crossword into thirds and stuck it in the back pocket of his pants. He placed his porkpie hat on his head, switched off the T.V. and left, making sure to lock the dead-bolt as well as the knob.
The neighborhood wasn’t what it used to be, it seemed darker now at night, more closed, quieter. Israel paid no real mind to the changes, because he knew they always did. He savored the night air, noted the marine layer coming in, cooling and humidifying the city. A good sign, as it had been awfully dry as of late and that brought fire danger. Mayhap, thought Israel, it would rain. He turned left at the end of his street and walked the two blocks up Twelfth Avenue to Ella’s Eatery. He pulled his puzzle from his pocket, and took a seat at the counter. He pulled his pen out, clicked it, and began working. He ordered pie and a cup of decaffeinated coffee from the pretty young woman with the tired eyes working behind the counter. When it arrived he dug in immediately, ignoring his puzzle and reveling in the subtle delicacy of his favorite desert on the planet. He finished, and resumed working the crossword, nursing his coffee, refusing refills as they tended to disrupt the delicate balance of cream, sugar, and brew. He finished his coffee and his puzzle about the same time, filling in the final squares, just as he emptied the last sip from his cup. He smiled with satisfaction, checked the bill and paid, leaving the sleepy looking waitress a nice tip, and giving her a wink and a nod as he walked back out into the night. That’s when he saw the dragon.
Next >
