My Head Spins

There's a black bird on the power line and he's silhouetted against the gray sky. It's a black and white photograph taken on color film. I watch the day be still and dead but it isn't dead. It's throbbing with calm.

A little ways away there is a warehouse district, and I enter it. It's been here my whole life, but it was only after I moved away that I became interested in exploring it. There is a light traffic sound in the distance, but otherwise it is still and quiet. It will be winter soon. There are puddles and I get mud all over my shoes. I pass an alleyway that is mysterious and only for my viewing. I see it as though through a zoetrope.

29 Unrelated Events

• A man in a grey suit rinses the ashes out of an urn he found in the crawl space.
• Out on the balcony, a 30-something typist steps off and plummets into the big, dark eternity.
• A mailman stoops over her body and shakes his head at the pity of it.
• Meanwhile, a brown mouse scurries into the apartment of a fainted, forlorn housewife.
• She clutches photos in an envelope just arrived today, postmarked last year, of her child who was killed in a hit-and-run six months ago.
• A northern wind sweeps through the window and blows past a pile of papers, lifting the birth certificate of a seven year old and pushing it out of an opposite window.
• The doorbell rings and the housewife goes downstairs to answer but finds no one there.
• She is greeted by a passing policeman suspiciously watching a dachshund fetch a frisbee twice its size.
• The owner of the dachshund bends down to pick up an unused cigarette next to a sleeping transient propped up against a tree.
• A mother-in-law places an apple pie in a nearby window to cool off.
• She notices an identity thief chasing after an important document being tossed about by the wind.
• A black Mercedes speeds down the street and splashes a puddle of muddy water onto the gown of a debutante at the bus stop.
• A boisterous and well-rested drifter kicks a knapsack which lands right into her lap.
• Anxiously offering his assistance, he is smacked hard with a handbag.
• In the commotion, the #14 bus has come and gone, having picked up all but one of the passengers.
• Miles later, the bus hits a conspicuously black Mercedes attempting to make a right turn in front of it.
• A bicycle carrying a small dog in a basket is leaned up against a fence while its owner hops off to lend a hand.
• A passenger on the bus alights and leaves with the bicycle (and dog), followed by shouts of, "Wait, stop!"
• He rides past a taxi just as a woman in a muddy dress exits.
• The front wheel of the bicycle slams into a pothole and covers the woman with water.
• The woman sobs and proceeds to run after the bicycle in her three-inch heels.
• A block from there, a widow carries a pie and journeys to the house from which she recently moved, determined to retrieve the ashes of her beloved which had been left in the crawl space.
• She passes a cyclist who dismounts and enters a liquor store.
• The owner refuses to sell him beer because his ID claims he is only seven.
• A customer in the vicinity collects his purchases and walks away without paying.
• He is greeted by a policeman who walks with him for the next half mile and they chat merrily.
• The policeman receives a call on his walkie-talkie.
• In front of a nearby building, a suicide victim is identified as the driver of a vehicle involved in the hit-and-run of a seven year old, six months ago.
• Her mother arrives shortly after, crying uncontrollably, and hands a freshly-baked apple pie to the police officer on duty.
  

okay