Page 11 (1/2)

Another monkey leaped onto the sill at the second

Like most of us in this movie-besotted, Hollywood-corrupted world, if I succumbed to the narcissist in me and listened to-section indulgences when I a full-orchestra rhapsodies when I enjoy a triu my not infrequent spells of foolishness Sasha insists that I look like the late Jah I don’t see the resemblance, I am appalled and ashamed to say that at times I take pleasure in this supposed reseure; indeed, it would require little effort for y score of Rebel Without a Cause swelling in my mind At the door a moment earlier, when the monkey shadoooped up the : Hear the violins shriek from the shower scene in Psycho Now, as I considered ine low, o tones plucked frole attenuated but h I aainst thenot to swashbuckle into the night After all, though charismatic, James Dean is no Harrison Ford In the ot the crap beaten out of him

I quickly sidled across the floor, away fro room Within a few feet, I bumped into cabinetry

These cabinets would match those in every house in Dead Town: plain but sturdy, with birch frarooves created by the overlapping joints had all but disappeared under the many coats The work counters would be laminated with one color or another of speckled Formica

Before any of the troop entered the kitchen froet off the floor If I stood with my back to a wall, pressed into a corner, deadwater through its gills, I was still certain to give myself away The linoleum was so curled and so undermined by tiny pockets of air that it would crackle and pop froht, fro sound was sure to come precisely when the monkeys were stone still and ready to hear it

In spite of darkness so thick that it see enough to ht otherwise detect, I didn’t think I’d havea search of the kitchen, even if they conducted it strictly by touch Nevertheless, I had to give it a try

If I climbed onto the countertop, I would be restricted by the narrow space between the Formica and the upper cabinets I’d have to lie oncompactly into the fetal position, so as to occupy as small a space as possible and to make myself more difficult to locate, I wouldn’t be in an ideal posture to fight back if I was found by one of those walking condominiums for lice

By body contact alone, I followed the cabinetry to the corner, where the kitchen in every one of these bungalows features a broole shelf at the top If I was able to squeeze into that narrow space and close the door after me, at least I would be off the treacherous linoleuroped-tapped its way around the room

At the end of the cabinet row, I discovered the broo With dise, then the other, and patted air where the door should have been, as though just the right series of ain

Unless the horde of e onto the front porch was still huddled there, devising strategy or discussing the price of coconuts, I was nearly out of time

My hidey-hole was suddenly more hole than hidey

Unfortunately, no alternative presented itself

I fished the spare azine of ammunition from its pocket inthe Glock ready in front of me, I eased backward into the broom closet--and wondered if the reek of death that saturated the kitchen oty source in this cra eels, but nothing squished under h to adhtly Although I am nearly six feet tall, I didn’t have to hunch down; however, the underside of the storage shelf pressed hard enough against my Mystery Train cap to ih hts and an attack of claustrophobia, I decided not to pass the ti place was like a coffin

As it turned out, I didn’t have any time to pass No sooner had I stashed myself in the broo room

I heard them just beyond the threshold, revealed only by a barely audible conspiratorial hissing andthe situation, then entered at a rush, lantern eyes aglow as they fanned out to both sides of the door, like SWAT-tea linoleum startled them One squeaked in surprise, and they all froze

As far as I could determine, this first squad consisted of threeeyes, which were revealed only during theinjust their heads as they surveyed the black roo the saressed froh my mouth, not solely because thisexposure to the vile stink Already, a sludge of nausea oozed back and forth into be able to taste the foul air, which left a ue and induced a flux of sour saliva that threatened to

After a pause to analyze the situation, the bravest of the three id when the linoleuain

One of its pals took a step with the saan to twitch in my left calf I hoped to God it wouldn’t develop into a painful crathy silence, the most timid member of the squad issued a thin whine It sounded fearful

Call me insensitive, call me cruel, call me a mutant-monkey hater, but under the circumstances, I was pleased by the anxiety in its voice

Their apprehension was so palpable that if I said "Boo," they would leap, screaernails Monkey stalactites

Of course, totally pissed by that little trick, they would eventually couts out Which would spoil the joke

If they were as spooked as I believed they were, they ht conduct only a token search and retreat froe would be the troop’s equivalent of the boy who cried wolf

The increased intelligence conferred on these rhesuses is as ence comes an awareness of the complexity of the world, and from this awareness arises a sense of mystery, wonder Superstition is the dark side of wonder Creatures with sis, such as their natural predators But those of us who have higher cognitive abilities are able to torture ourselves with an infinite oblins and va extraterrestrials Worse, we find it difficult not to dwell on the e, even inon these creatures being, right now, nearly paralyzed by a daunting list of what-ifs

One of the squad snorted as though trying to clear the stench out of its nostrils, then spat with distaste

The wiain

It was answered by one of its brethren, not with another whine, but with a fierce growl that dispelled er here The growler, at least, was not intih to ensure the discipline of the other two