F43.10

By ROBERT CRAIG

ONE

I know I'm being followed. Like every day outside. I can't go anywhere without this feeling that someone is watching me. 

The therapist clicks her notes into the laptop. I know she doesn't believe me. No one does. 

Outside they fall from above. A swarm of shadows. Wings tucked under. Free falling like hawks about to attack. The sky darkens lie a storm approaches. And in a flurry of feathers they land on the city rooftops. Old buildings from the turn of the century. 

Down below on the street, it feels like an eclipse. People look up but see only blue skies. Car headlights blink on. Street lights stutter then turn on. The premature dusk makes people uneasy and panic. 

Like gargoyles they stand at the rooftop edges. Watching below. 

The window of the therapy room looks out over the city. I stop taking. I stop saying what I need to say because she just asks the same questions, takes her notes and repeated looks at the clock on the wall behind me. I turn to the window and ignore her. 

I watch the light changing outside and wonder if a storm is approaching. 

TWO

I stand at the corner. The intersection the streets. She reminds me of our next session and to be consistent. I know she means well guess. 

Then I feel it again. And I turn to tell her when I hear a crash like lightening but in front of me and the ground shakes. Cars screech and miss each other. Then his shadow in front me me. Suddenly she is paralyzed.

He extends his hand and pushes through with a sonic boom. Crossing over. His finger touches her forehead. She faints. And she forgets. 

I feel a rush of wind like I am ground zero in a tornado and just like that the shadows disappear and the sun burns down upon me.

Standing on the corner. On the edge. People in a panic all around me. Children crying. Cars stopped in the street. A few people help the therapist up to her feet. Then the sound of police cars and an ambulance. People pouring out of the buildings to try and understand what happened. What was that sound that shook the earth.

And here I think I'm the only one without fear. I push through the crowd and head home.