This Is A Thing That Happened

(This is the most recent piece in a project that begins here.)

A wolf sits in the middle of the street
Beside it stands a woman carrying a sheathed and slender sword, reversed in one hand
Around them people move
Some cast furtive glances at the wolf
Widen their path around them
The murmur of the day drifts in the air
– | – You should put your hand on my head as if I were your pet.
The woman blinks
People passing through her field of vision
Enter
Exit
– | — Why would you want to give the appearance of something untrue?
Quiet, even tone
The wolf forces a small jet of air from its nostrils that the woman perceives as a single laugh
– | – Oh you know people.
Inhale
Exhale
Inhale
– | — No. I don’t.
Figures moving back and forth
Weaving between one another
Filling and emptying the tiny spaces formed by their bodies
Flowing
Stalling
Almost colliding, hesitation, moving again
– | – Wait here.
The wolf pushes the rear of its body up and stands
Pans its head slightly
Slow exertion of force
Walks
The people move around its large body
Weaving behind it
The wolf may pause, wait, continue
It reaches the line of buildings edging the street
There another woman stands, back to the wall
Cradled in her hands is a phone
She slowly pushes her finger against it
Pauses
Pushes again
The wolf walks to the woman and stops in front of her, close enough to touch
– | — I see.
Even though the wolf is not within earshot
Gradual increasing of force through the lower back, legs, calves
Her body tilts forwards
One foot lifts
Is set down as the other pushes off from the toe
She lets the tip of the sheathed sword dip slightly and gently loosens her grip on it
It sways behind her as she moves
The woman by the buildings stares at the wolf over her phone
She sees the woman with the sword approaching behind it
Blink
Look at the wolf
Look at the woman with the sword
She stops immediately behind the wolf, and the three are very close
The wolf sits down
Inhale
From the side comes a voice, loud, distant
There is a sensation of the crowd shifting, reacting with slightly decreased noise, then increased, then murmuring again
Again the voice, closer
– | — the fuck did you go…
The woman holding the phone begins to breathe evenly
A shake in each inhale
Each exhale short
The first tear emerges from her eye
Then another
Both eyes
– | — sort of shit I can’t fucking deal with today, you fucking better not start that shit up again, I swear…
The figure speaking loudly emerges from the crowd moving around it
It stumbles slightly with each footfall slightly heavier than is necessitated by the movement
The voice grows louder
And louder
The figure is upon them
– | — there you fucking are you fucking…
She cannot remember the movement
When she wants to remember, she does not
When she doesn’t want to remember, she does not
In one breath, she stares at the woman holding the sword, sheathed behind her, who stares back at her
In the next, it is buried to the hilt in the figure’s chest, the woman’s hand clenched around it, arm raised, feet slightly apart
She doesn’t forget the sound
Or the sound of the figure gargle
Then cough
Then cough again
Flecks of blood arcing out from its mouth with each convulsion
The dark stain emerging and growing over the chest
With the other arm, the woman cradles the figure as it shakes
Holding it in place
Holding it almost forever
Almost
It stops moving
Turn
The woman staring at her still
– | — Now there has been a murder, and there is a body, and these are also things.
Hands together but empty before her
Look down
The phone on the pavement, its surface fragmented
The wolf’s head looking down at the phone
It lifts its rear end
Turns its head to look at the body as the woman lowers it to the pavement
A swift movement sees the blade withdrawn, dripping
That sound, also not forgotten
The blade is wiped
Stowed
She begins to kneel with the intention to pick up her phone but shakes, feels unsteady and straightens again
Breathing measured, also forced
Look up
Stare
Look down
The wolf, also staring
It turns its body, feet slowly lifting and setting down
Begins to walk
Look up
The woman with the sword, head turned to the side
Then at the woman without the phone
Then the other side
Her body follows the movement, feet lift, set down
She walks behind the wolf
When they are side by side, the wolf matches her pace
The tip of her sheathed sword swaying slightly behind her