Tag: audience

Day #22

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Clearstarcher: One who clearstarches – To stiffen with starch, and then make clear by clapping with the hands

Agog: In eager desire eager astir

Improlificate: To impregnate

—–

He doesn’t know that I saw them, him with her. But I was there.

I was in the corner, leaning on a wall, wearing a leather jacket and with my hair slicked neatly back. Earlier in the night I’d told my reflection, ‘you look just like Buddy Holly, dude, nice work.’

He arrived after I did, at least thirty minutes after to be precise, which is an unforgiveable rudeness in my books. He came alone, as you know, wearing a sharply tailored evening suit, the inky blue of fading twilight. I remember his shirt was a blinding white, cuffs and collars stiff and rigid, gleaming like teeth. Fucking clearstarcher, I thought, with your stiff enamel collar, rigid and broad like the wings of a fucking albatross.

Bear in mind that she was already there at this point, chatting and laughing with friends, Molly from floor four, Sally from floor three, Polly from floor two. They each held a small glass tumbler, full of brown liquid, probably whisky or amaretto. I like amaretto, do you like amaretto? No? Well, she did. She enjoyed the hot flush of aniseed searing her tongue, the warmth on her throat, the gently curling heat in her stomach, a dragon in its pit.

She caught his eye immediately, but, in that dress who would fail to succumb to her charms? The long, slender legs, creamy against the strawberry red of her dress, a bodice tight as bark on a tree pushing fleshy fruits to the forefront of any man’s thoughts. I know they were in mine, plump bosoms bouncing as I stood in the corner, watching.

Did you know her hair fell like autumn leaves? A sheet of auburn silk draped lightly over her shoulders, tresses eddying like an effervescent chestnut river. It was ravishing, simply sumptuous. He saw it. I saw it too.

I saw his eyes agog, bulbous stars in the night, the fog lights of souls passing in the night, drawn to her by the white heat of her shimmering radiance.

Please, bear in mind that I too was partaking in the general imbibements of the night, if not the actual merriments. I was satisfied watching from the corner, she the dormouse to my tawny owl. He wasn’t though. Oh no, no, no!

He flocked to her; strutting, cavorting, talking, carousing, drinking, dancing, touching, holding, groping, kissing, escaping, improlificating. Possibly.

You do know what that word means, don’t you? Improlificate? It means to impregnate. But I don’t say that word. I dislike the hard ‘egg’ sound. It sticks in my throat as though it could hatch at any moment.

Anyhow, I saw them leaving together, hand on ass, tongue in mouth, crotch in crotch. The last thing I saw was the soft, red petal of her lipstick imprinted on his stiff shirt collar. Deep down I hoped it was blood. But it wasn’t. It was just affection.

His wife looks at me, eye-to-eye for the first time since I started talking.

‘Why are you telling me all this?’ she asks, her voice hoarse.

Day #5

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Audience: The act of hearing attention to sounds

Prebendship: Completed by a Prebend, an administrative role in the church

Leptocercal: Having a long slender tail

—–

Huddled into a corner, his body quivering, Reski patiently waited for an audience with the Priest. The old man was currently elsewhere, dealing with matters of importance that generally involved the didactic pleasures of God and Gold.

In the old man’s absence, the Prebendary sat with Reski to keep him company. He was a slight, unassuming man with paper-thin skin and a wilting thatch of hair that resembled the foundations of a small bird’s nest. He had been living in the church for nigh on eighteen months and was finally approaching the end of his Prebendship, an arduous administrative role that required scruples as questionable as the Priest’s himself.

Reski sat silently, listening to the man as he muttered fragmentary stories of his life before the church. The words were hard to understand, relayed in piecemeal, and they filled Reski with an ominous feeling. The hairs on the back of his neck twitched, bristling like flickering candles. His ears trembled as a footstep echoed somewhere in the dark. He shrank back further.

‘Come now,’ said the Prebendary, noticing Reski’s sudden reticence. ‘What scares you?’

Reski remained silent, unable to speak.

The Prebendary watched him carefully, as if expecting a response. However, none was forthcoming except the faint horse-hoof clop of rain on the windows.

‘Fine,’ he said. ‘Suit yourself.’

Reski was relived. He had never liked the Prebendary, who he knew deep down was a cruel man simply masquerading behind the thick weave of a cassock. Religious administration was such an indiscriminate term that, as Reski saw it, reduced the Prebendary – or should it be elevated? – to a position tantamount to little more than the Priest’s dog’s body.

Seemingly bored with babysitting, the Prebendary broke off a small hunk of cheese from a slab on the table and took a bite. A snail’s trail of spittle clung to his lips like stalactites with each disgustingly wide bite. He washed it down with a goblet of holy water taken from the font. Reski knew that he shouldn’t have done this.

Aware that he was being watched, the Prebendary winked at Reski and said slyly, ‘our little secret…’

As if to barter for his silence, the man tore off a second chunk of cheese – much smaller than the first, naturally – and tossed it towards Reski. He hung back for moment, hesitant, but hunger overcame his apprehension. He ate it quickly, greedily, savoring the rich, milky taste.

‘Good boy,’ purred the Prebendary smugly.

Beyond the weak glow of the candles, a door suddenly opened then closed again heavily. Footsteps followed, echoing as though they belonged to a giant.

‘Holy Father!’ squeaked the Prebendary, jumping to his feet like a natural born sycophant. ‘He is here, just as you requested!’

The Priest’s owl-like eyes focused on the thin wire cage that sat atop the table. Reski suddenly shivered, the cheese forgotten, and defensively curled his leptocercal tail around his small, hairy body.