the sun poured down, drenching me in sweat and heat. i continued to work,
digging holes for future crops. i sang a song under my breath as i dug,
"how i wish, how i wish you were here. we're just two lost souls swimming in
a fish bowl, year after year. running over the same old ground. what have we
found? the same old fears. wish you were here."
i finished these lines and stood up, letting the shovel fall to my feet. i
grabbed the bottom of my shirt and practically ripped it off trying to get
it off of my sweat drenched body. i dropped it next to my shovel and raised
my head to the sun and let the sweat drip down the side of my face. my hand
got caught in my gnarled hair as i tried to run it through and i gave up
immediately, using the crook of my arm to wipe my forehead.
a hand suddenly landed on my shoulder and i jumped. after getting over the
initial shock, i turned slowly to see who was bothering me in the middle of
no where on the hottest day of the year. i guess i almost expected to see my
boss, wearing one of her summer dresses she always wore. she never wore a
bra, she said it was too hot. but none of us really minded, especially me,
her breasts hung so well in those dresses. her sweat would outline them so
perfect... i'd always have dreams about her coming to me in the fields,
"make love to me" she'd say, and i'd slide the thin straps of her dress
right off her shoulders and it would fall, clinging to her hips for just a
second, then landing in the dust. and i'd stand there and stare at her and
admire her naked body. she'd always smile and laugh when i told her i
thought she was an angel. she'd undress me and when i was naked she'd kiss
my mouth hard and sweet. after, i'd laugh because it would feel so good.
that was all i could do and she'd laugh with me. except her laugh wasn't a
voice; it was bells, like on christmas morning when my mother used to wake
me, ringing them in my doorway. then we would make love, in the fields. it
always felt so right. but after a while, i stopped having them. i guess it
was because she had gotten married. he was such a horrible man, well not
really, but in my eyes he was because i wasn't with her. more than anything
i wanted to be that man so i could love her and touch her and just be by her
side. i wanted to be able to call her mine. i wanted to hear her say, in
that beautiful voice, that i was hers... but i wasn't, and after awhile i
got used to him being there with her. but she was my boss so i saw her more
than i saw him.
but it wasn't her coming to see me to ask me to make love to her in the
dirt, it was a strange man. he had long black hair pulled behind his head in
a pony tail and a white panama hat that he held loosely in his hand. i
looked him up and down for a moment, he had on a white suit. his pant legs
were incredibly clean and their color was so harsh compared to the dirt.
there was no dirt anywhere on him, not a clump, not a speck, not even a
whisper of dust. it was almost as if he had floated over to me, that was the
only way he could have been so spotless and still be in this dusty field. he
coughed uncomfortably and i forgot almost immediately what i had been
thinking about. he put his hat on his head and spoke,
"excuse me sir" he said in a smooth voice that had a slight accent in it. i
thought for a second but couldn't place it so i gave up. "do you know the
quickest way to Adenburrow?" i wiped the sweat off my eyebrows and looked at
him.
"Adenburrow? you're going there?"
"yes, can you tell me the quickest way?"
"i don't know why you'd want to go but i sure as hell can tell you how to
get there" i paused and turned in the opposite direction. "do you see those
two trees off to the west?" i waited for him to answer but he didn't.
suddenly there was a rush of wings and i could feel soft feathers brush
against my bare back, i turned quickly but he was gone. a wild wind drove
through the field like the devil on horses and shook me hard. i turned my
back to it and the places where the feathers had touched me burned with the
force of the wind. it stopped suddenly, almost as suddenly as it had
started. i looked around but for as far as i could see, the man with the
panama had disappeared and the wind had blown away any footprints if there
had been any. i raised my hands to my head to smooth my matted sweaty hair
and turned around in a circle totally bewildered for a second, then stopped
in half spin.
"here comes my girl" i started to sing "here comes my girl, yeah she looks
so right, she is all i need tonight" i bent down and picked up my shovel and
started to dig again. singing out the words to an old tom petty song.