New Orleans

The original manuscript of this story was written probably within a year of Hurricane Katrina. I’ve taken mad liberties with the state of the city. After all, this is blatantly not "our" reality, since the creatures running rampant don’t exist (as far as I know…). So my apologies to those from New Orleans, and to those who know and love the city. This version is a purely fictional one which might have come to pass if human beings weren’t as resilient and determined to rebuild as they are.

***

Johnny Boudreau went into Jade’s Bar and sat on a tall stool.

"Beer, Johnny?" Jade Odaya put a coaster in front of him and set a beer on it.

"Thanks, Jade," Johnny said and took a long swallow. He wiped his mouth and asked, "You seen Ken? He was supposed to meet me this morning and I ain’t seen hide nor hair of him."

Jade shook her head. "Not today. He was here for a while yesterday afternoon. Said he was headed into his old neighbourhood." She put some clean glasses away. "He said it’s gone pretty wild there, deer and everything."

"Yeah, we seen deer there last week. That’s what we was going to do today–bag a deer and butcher it. Figured if we could get a couple, they’d last us a while. Maybe trade the meat for other stuff, you know?"

Jade knew. Although things were slowly getting back to normal, it could still be hard to get fresh meat. The store almost always sold out before she got there. She would have been happy to trade liquor for meat. It was a crazy world when she could pick up the phone and order beer and liquor and have it delivered, but it was almost impossible to get fresh fruit and vegetables at the market. And if it weren’t for Shonda down the street, she’d be without fresh bread and other baked goods, too.

"What are you going to do?" she asked Johnny.

He finished his beer. "Guess I’ll head out there on my own." He looked over his shoulder at the scattering of other patrons. "Hey, Mikey!"

A broad-shouldered man in his early thirties looked over. "’Sup, Johnny?"

"I’m going looking for deer. You come along?" Johnny stood up.

"Shit, why not?" Mike nodded to the others at his table and met Johnny at the door. Jade watched them go, hoping they’d bring back some venison.

They climbed into Johnny’s battered jeep. "Ken was supposed to be here by now," he said. "but screw him if he ain’t turned up by now." He started the engine and pulled out. There wasn’t much traffic in this part of the city . He heard on radio and TV that the city was coming back and the Dome was being used again for sports, not as a haven for terrified people and as a source of prey for predators. But as far as he could see, his neighbourhood wasn’t growing much, unless you counted the trees and vines and bushes that were rapidly overtaking the abandoned homes.

Sidewalks were cracked and broken. Grass grew and hid entire stretches of pavement where mud left behind by Katrina provided rich nourishment for growth. He found it eerie to walk along what seemed to be wild woodland with houses along each side of the greenery. He kept thinking former owners were sitting at their windows watching him pass. It creeped him out more than he would admit, and he refused to go there alone at night.

He guided the vehicle into increasingly wild areas.

***

Almost time to get dressed and take my daughter and her prom date out to look for a tux for him. Her dress has been sorted out, we found shoes and purse, and this morning she did a trial run on her hair-do. Prom is  on Thursday night, and we seem to be a go, so far. It’s been a bit of back and forth. She and her b/f broke up a few weeks ago, so she wasn’t going to go, and now one of her good friends (who is a nicer person and much better looking than the ex) is taking her. I’ll have to post pics of the dress over in Torin’s diary, when the day comes.