Crazy Sally

On with the story. I think I have about 10K words already handwritten in this, and I’m feeling that I might be able to pick up the threads and find out where it all ends. It’s time to get *me* back, if you know what I mean.

***

Crazy Sally liked dark places and the shadows of night. She knew most of the others preferred the warmth of daytime and the bright sunshine, and that often, bad things happened in the secret darknesses. But in Sally’s experience, people who were out and about during the day were more apt to find her invisible, or worse; visible and a target.

The night people were better, at least in the places Sally frequented. They were night-shift workers and party-goers. Many of them were flamboyant and wild, and more inclined to see the people who lived on the streets as people. It was a poor night when Sally couldn’t score at least part of a bottle and usually some pretty decent leftovers originally meant to be tomorrow’s lunch. Tonight was no different.

A group of young people had come out of one of the better restaurants carrying several containers of leftovers. Crazy Sally sidled along toward them, crooning and holding out her left hand.

"Hey, look! It’s Crazy Sally," said one of the young men. "Hey, Crazy Sally. How you tonight?"

"Passable, passable," said Crazy Sally. Her mouth watered at the smells coming from the containers of food. "Tell your fortune for supper," she said.

"Aw, you don’t have to do that, Sally," said the young man. Sally thought his name was Sam. He held out a paper bag with a cardboard container inside.

Sally pulled her hand back. "Oh, no," she said. "I can’t take it for nothing. You know that. Sally pays her way. You know that. Fortune for supper."

"Let her tell your fortune, Sam," said one of the young women. "Will you tell mine, too, Sally? I brought some dessert."

"Sure, sure. Fortune for dessert, too. Sally pays her way. You know that." Sally accepted the paper bags and tucked them carefully into a shopping bag which she hung from her elbow to get it out of the way. They moved to the circle of light cast by a street lamp and Sally held out her hands.

"Tonight I read palms," she said. "You know that." Sam shook his head and held out his hand, palm up. Sally took it in both of hers and turned it this way and that. She clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Stay in the dark," she said. "Night time is your friend. You know that. You want to stay out at night; do everything at night. Stay in during the daytime." She looked up into Sam’s face. "Don’t take the new job offer, Sam. It’s too dangerous. Puts you in the sun where the bad things can see you. Stay in the dark."

She released his hand and looked at all of them. "Something wicked this way comes," she said. "You know that."

"What about my fortune, Sally?" asked the girl who had given Sally dessert. She held out her hand.

Sally looked at the slender palm, holding the girl’s hand in hers. The corners of her mouth turned down. "Stay out of the park tomorrow. You better stay home behind closed doors. There’s death in the park tomorrow. I see it." She all but flung the girl’s hand away, looked sharply into the half-circle of faces. "I see bad things coming. You know that." Then she turned and scuttled away into an alley. She scurried into darkness, slipped through a door into an abandoned office building and climbed the stairs to the fifth floor and made her way to an inner room she had claimed as her home. She liked that it had a sturdy door and no windows. She lit candles on the table, and prepared to have her supper.

"Stay out of the park. Stay out of the daylight. You know that."

***

Hmmmm. I have the feeling that there’s more of Sally to look at. I’ll be back to her.