Wow. --- morrigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I walk the dog at midnight. The pavements are slick > with winter rain that is freezing into speckled ice. > The soles of my boots skid almost imperceptibly. > > > > I hear a woman scream, high and ragged. Immediately > I am alerted. I scan the dark horizon. I see her > some distance off, running across a road. She is a > mere shadow. > > > > I walk in the direction she is running, worried > momentarily that perhaps she has become maddened and > will scream at me. I wonder whether she is shouting > into a mobile phone. > > > > I see him in front of her, a dark and light stripy > jumper. She is pursuing him but he does not break > his stride of singularity. From somewhere deep > inside her another gut wrenching howl, 'I love you > so fucking much'. He continues to walk away from > her. She quickens her pace and draws level with > him, half grabbing, half jumping at him. She hits > him. For a moment they tussle and she collapses on > the floor, folding up under the weight of her own > drunken pain. The man walks away. > > > > She is lying on the ground. Her throat must be open > because the sounds from it are reverberating around > the park, ricocheting off the trunks of trees, > rattling the empty winter benches, strafing the low > grass . > > > > He returns to her and pulls her to her feet. She > flops against him like an unfastened puppet. He > holds her under her arms and she falls into him. > It's all she wants, to be absorbed by him and > granted strength through acknowledgement. > > > > He rises again and set out from her. With every > step he takes the distance between them increases. > She stands, her arms flailing, no sense emerging > from her contorted mouth that can only plead in half > grunts and shrieks, but then he returns again and I > see them silhouetted in the distance. > > > > I walk to where I can't see them, knowing my circle > will bring me back to their position, my cycle of > movement will always bring me to their place. The > dog trots. The cathedral in front of me is > illuminated against the night sky with blue-green > light. Traffic passes me, all people going > somewhere, or coming from somewhere. A drunken man > lurches in his approaching walk. I turn the corner > and they are there again. > > > > He walks in front of her and she trails behind him > in a staggering confusion. He pauses. She hurries > to reach him, her whole body propelled towards him. > > > > I draw closer to them. I can see her clasping at > him. He takes her hand and punctures her anger. I > am parallel with them now. She is limp in the tears > she has shed, exasperation thickens his voice 'I > love you,' he says, 'I just can't do this anymore'. > She is sniffing. I can hear her heels against the > concrete. 'I'm sorry,' she is saying, as I cross > their path and head towards the road. >
