Two Short Pieces

Piece 1

I woke up this morning in a doorway with the rain coming down and a kink in my back that made it hard to breathe. I couldn't find my dog. He came to me last night in a dream, all shiny and golden and barking happily. I asked him if he had any smack, and he just shook his head and licked my cheek. We spent the rest of the day looking for stuff in the alleys to sell. I called him Shep and he called me Albert. He told me to sit in this doorway and wait for Mary. Mary wears long blue dresses and big black boots, and she took me to Kelsey's to eat hamburgers and mashed potatoes. I showed her my place and she took off her long blue dress for me. I called her Angel and she called me Savage. I had a wonderful dream last night. I met an angel named Mary, and she took me to a white shimmering palace, and we drank hot tea from delicate white cups with a nice older couple who asked me where I lived and what I did. I told them about Shep, and about my angel dreams, and how treasure drops in your lap if you allow it. Mary sat beside me and held my hand between her own. Then she took me back to my place. I asked her whether she was going to take her dress off again. She shook her head slowly and gave me a kiss on my cheek. I woke up this morning in a doorway with the rain coming down and a kink in my back that made it hard to breathe.

Piece 2

Tall grass frames my view, permeating the air with the thick smell of chlorophyll. I can feel the grass staining my white linen shirt and see bug juice soaking my tie. The cobalt blue bowl of the sky encompasses me. I squint my eyes down to slits. A warm breeze blows the hair off my forehead. A ladybug makes its way up a nearby stalk, and then in the blink of an eye it disappears. I can hear the chirp of a million crickets all around me, and off in the distance cicadas drone endlessly. To my right I can hear the rustling sounds of Kendrick stiffly frolicking through the wild barley. He appears near my feet and chews a few blades of grass. He utters a dignified sneeze, then continues on. Black ants crawl over my dress shoes, and a single honeybee hovers near a spray of blue wildflowers. I track the slow progress of a jet leaving a thin trail of white across the endless stretch of sky.