assuming the chairmanship

Assuming the Chairmanship

There was no sound at the other end of the line.

They've stopped being frightened here.

Yellow-rimmed red plastic sunglasses made the world look red.

What are you trying to look like, a secret agent?

Mine host sees his profits shrinking, but this is business, and

due to a high volume of calls, due to heavy demand, due to staff shortages,

it's not romantic.

Who wants to know if I can go under?

Go downstairs to the cafeteria to drink coffee and then

sit down in the drive by the rhododendrons?

They needed a healthier receptionist,

one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect,

half-demon, they said, on her father’s side, witch woman, wise woman, and

past caves of green rock that shook with the movement of unseen amphibian,

hair wild and waving like silver palm fronds.

That's when the water came on full blast.

Underneath the flush, there was a paleness,

the heavy blue of the sky. A place at peace.