Oddity
four: can never find the same street twice. Not on purpose, anyway.
This
city changes. As unpredictable as a woman quitting smoking. Every street sign
is the same, when there are signs at all. I fall asleep on a street corner and
wake up in a house with busted windows or in front of a corner store.
Every
store’s empty. I experimented, trying to push some limits. There was a clothing
store that I broke into the other day, and I took new clothes. It’s been years
since I’ve worn new clothes. I found a security camera, waved right into it,
and wandered off, expecting the cops to come all day. No one did. When I woke
up in the morning, though, the clothes were gone. Like they’d stripped me in my
sleep, put my rags back on, and left me sprawled out on the pavement.
That’s
what I forgot.
Oddity
five: the shadows.
I
know they’re there. There are people, in corners, just out of sight. Shadows
that move like they shouldn’t. Makes me think that I can’t be alone in here.
Maybe
I’m wrong and it’s just the city, living and breathing. I can feel it breathe,
truth. Sometimes when it’s pitch-black, and I’m falling asleep in the middle of
the road, I press my ear to the ground and listen. I swear to you, I hear it.
Inhale. Exhale. Little rumbles.
Oddity six: the city
is alive.
