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Excerpts

Prologue

Micah and Erika entered the middle car in the midst of the melee and surprisingly they were able to find a seat together. It was evening time, late rush hour; at this stop the train should be brimming. It was not empty by any account; nevertheless, sardines would have begged for this comfort. Today was a colder day than it had been in the recent weeks and they had dressed warmer out of protection. They were fashionable in their wool overcoats, but heavier and more cumbersome for it. Once in the heated car they took the chance to undo their bindings. Once his coat had been opened she sat her head upon his chest and he placed his arm around her shoulder. There they sat as young lovers, layered by cloth and comfortable in their skins.

With her ear to his heart she listened attentively for its beat. Through the thick fabric she was not able to hear one.

"I can't hear your heartbeat," she looked up and said to him.

"Don't worry, it's there," he replied.

"I don't know, I can't hear it, I think you're dead," she remarked playfully.

"If I were, how would I be able to talk to you now?"

"Well, maybe you're dead and you just don't know it yet."

"So then, you're saying that we only die if we acknowledge death."

"Maybe. And maybe we only live if we acknowledge life, but I'm not quite sure."

"Well, then, I will never acknowledge death and I will live forever."

"And what would you do if you could live forever?" she asked him.

"I would stay here, with you, in this moment, in love."

"But I won't live forever. What will you do when I die?"

"Girl, you will never die. I'm not sure about a lot of things, but of that I am."

"So then, we will both live and love forever," she stated and asked him at the same time.

"Why not, why not."

In like vein the two lovers found each other's lips there in the crowd of the not-so-packed train. They kissed, eyes closed, hearts entwined and minds miles away, in a haze of purple.

When they came up for air the train had come to a stop at Fifty-ninth Street subway station. Many of the passengers got off and were readily replaced. A young man came on and sat directly across from them. In his hands he carried a periodical; he held it spread-eagle before him. It covered him from stomach to brow and brought the full picture on the cover of the publication within eyeshot. There they were shown profiled head to head, Flawless and Hannibal, and above them were the words Crown Warfare. The airbrushed tableau stood before them like a hanging harbinger, as if they had needed any reminder of war.

Copyright © 2002 by Henry "Heru Ptah" Richards