______ ______ ______________ | | | | \ | \ / \ / ____ \ ______| | |________| | / \ | |____ | ________ | ( {} ) | _____) /~~~~~~~~~~~ | | | | \____/ | |______ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ | |~~~~~~~ / \ / \ / | ~~~~~~~~~| | | | |______| |______| /_____________| | | | | | | | | ...Hogs of Entropy Text Files Present... | | | | | | | | "Cries of Night" | | | | | | | | By: The Stranger | | | | | | \ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ / ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The apartment was on a back street, next to the rat infested alley that sliced between two low-rent apartment buildings. The window was open trying to pull in the outside chill and the sounds of the night came in like an unwanted visitor, bringing in the sirens of the police cruisers and the yells of the wandering gangs who own the night. The heavy fog of darkness stood in the apartment like a soul that whispered and spoke their mind as it roamed and took over every space of the room. Lora lied drenched in a bed of sweat and sickness watching the puffs of smoke swirl off of her cigarette and rise to the ceiling where it would mix with the darkness of the room. Her shirt was attached to her like an outer skin as he swat turned the white shirt to a dullish brown color. Her head molded into the pillow as she waited for her fever to eat her alive, waited for the final chill to come blowing in through her window and bring her close to life one last time. Next to her bed stood her night table which held a small AM-FM radio that quietly brought in sweet music from a world that seemed so far from her. An empty grass stood on the table, once filled with a cool stream of water that she had poured out across her forehead trying to cool down the embers of the fire that was raging in her head. A lamp with a dead bulb stood useless, only a decoration now. Lora listened to the stream of music that played from the radio, she listened to the way her breathing tried to stay with the beat without her knowing it. She tried to hear the song, tried to think of its title but her mind was drunk with disease and all her thoughts seemed to be running out of her body with the sweat. The low male voice swooned inside her, whispering words she couldn't understand but the voice was able to almost make her feel as if she wasn't alone. But she was alone. Drowning in sickness, she could feel her mind start to trickle away. Outside her window screaming sirens erasing the music of her room, filling up the empty spots of her brain. The humid summer night rotting in her bones. The walls dripped with brown mold like a mudslide, slowly crawling down towards the floor. The sweat tickled on her skin like an invisible stranger blowing on her feet. Her muscles were slowly twitching beneath her skin as the hot blood worked its way through her system, building up her body temperature like a furnace. The roar of the sirens washed away under the night sky. Only the music could be heard swimming through the darkness of her room searching for a listener who might need some company until the sun came back up and brightened up the day. And she could hear her heart pounding in her chest. Loud, crashing, banging. Pounding in her chest, ringing in her ears. She listened to it closely, knowing that if she didn't listen even for a moment, it could stop and that would be the end of everything. Another sound came flowing in through the window with a soft cool breeze. A loud screech that became soft and constant until it was only a him. Like a lullaby in her ears. She recognized it at once, should always know the soft whimper of a baby crying. Lora turned her head slowly until she could see out her window. Something was there. A white glow that was further out the window then she could see. She turned her body over, it was as if she was moving in a lake of water, slowly her muscles began to work once again and with all the strength she could find, she sat herself up in the bed. Each step was a challenge, she knew at any moment her muscles would give up and she would go falling to the floor and later that would be where they found her dead body. But with every step she found herself closer to the window and with every step the crying that was like soft music in her ears, grew louder. The white light outside the window began to take shape before her eyes, molding like clay as she began to see clearly out through the window pane. She stood before the open window, her hands down by her side, the music and the sirens only a memory of long ago. All she heard was the crying. Outside her window she watched the baby, watched the mother holding the child place a blue pacifier into the babies mouth. They stood only two feet from Lora but yet they stood on nothing. Floating in front of her was a mother and her child. The baby no longer cried but only made a low whimpering noise as it sucked on the blue pacifier. The mother turned towards Lora and smiled. Lora smiled back. The mother suddenly lost her smile and a look of worried surprise struck her lips. She tried to speak but her lips could say no words. Lora could feel her heart shuddering in her chest. The mother lost her grasp and the child began a descent to the ground below. Lora screamed and reached out for the child. Before she knew it, she was chasing after the baby until the two of them met on the ground below. Lora could feel the blood oozing out of her head, she could feel the cracks in her bones when she tried to move. Moments later she watched as the darkness of night swallowed her forever. Detective Anderson stared out the window, his eyes tracing over the path Lora had taken to her death. Such a beautiful girl, he thought, what a shame. This was an easy case to solve but a hard one to think about. All along her dresser stood tiny remnants of cocaine. Anderson could easily piece this case together. She gets strung out on cocaine thinks she can fly and down she goes. He sees it all the time. "Detective" someone says behind him. He turns to see one of the young rookies on the force and he says "Yeah, Jimmy?" The cop clears his throat and says "Nothing outside. Just the girl. Only some trash, some beer bottles" he wipes the sweat off his forehead "and a babies pacifier underneath the body." "A what?" Anderson says. "Yeah a blue pacifier, lying right under her body." "Well if they find anything else, just let me know" Anderson said. "Yes sir" Jimmy says and then leaves the apartment. Detective Anderson gathers his things and turns to leave the room. He looks over the room and for a moment he finds himself thinking that this room is alive. He leaves the apartment laughing at his own nonsense and slowly forgetting the sound he heard the whole time he stood in the apartment. The loud cries of a child searching for his pacifier. |=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=| | _____ Call Goat Blowers Anonymous for the LATEST HoE! _____ | | 6/ ^..^ (215) 750 - 0392 ^..^ \9 | | \_____(oo) This Issues Featured Support Board is: (oo)_____/ | | WW WW Corleone WW WW | | (306) 078 - FUNK | | ...the kings of modern goofiness... | |=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=| Copyright (c) 1995 HoE Publications and The Stranger. #85 -> 06/16/95 All rights Reserved.