Dream: I wake up inside the tiny cabin of a ship. On the wall of the cabin, I notice a painting by John Singer Sargent of an artist and his beloved lying on the bank of a river with a canoe beside them. I look around the room of my cabin and notice, to my surprise, that the same artists palette from the picture is lying beside me on the floor, and his beloveds dress is draped over the foot of my bed. Just then, I hear Atashs voice in the hall. I exit my cabin and find her standing in the dark corridor holding a candle. Lets go for a walk, she says. We go out a door and find ourselves standing on Avenue C, only the street has become a path leading into a thick wilderness. We follow the trail for a while and come to the edge of Manhattan, where a rickety bridge made of rope and boards leads down into a valley of pure ice. Im a bit scared of this wild landscape, so Im relieved to find a door at the other end of the bridge that has been built into one side of the gorge were crossing. I enter through the door, go down some stairs, and come to a little rehearsal room in which some musician friends of mine have gathered. One of them is an old man who is leading the group. Do you have what it takes to do this show? he asks when he sees me. I ask him what show hes talking about. Its called The Beatles Unlimited, he says. It would be great for your career to do this gig. I ask him what I need to do. Start by playing Hard Days Night for us, he says, and hands me a guitar. I start to play, but soon realize Ive forgotten some of the chords. This song is always harder to play than I remember, I tell him, but I see hes losing patience. Maybe this gig isnt for me, I admit, and put down the guitar. A blond woman dressed like a circus acrobat immediately seizes the guitar and starts playing the song flawlessly. I leave the group and go back out to find Atash. I find her in a little hotel room down the hall. Im worried about staying here this neighborhood, she says. I keep hearing scary noises from the street. I go to the door to listen, and find its unlocked. You should lock the door, I tell Atash, but curiosity gets the best of me, and I open the door a crack to peer out. The darkened street looks like a boulevard in Mexico City, and there in the street, to my horror, I see three skeletons sitting on the curb drinking Tecates. They seem absorbed in their conversation, so I get the courage to draw a little closer. Just then, a man in a top hat comes down the street in a buggy drawn by a mule. His face is covered in sweat and dirt. He dismounts and announces himself to the whole neighborhood. Ladies and gentlemen, he says, allow me to entertain you. The skeletons applaud heartily. They get up and start to dance with each other. And now, the man in the top hat continues. Now I will attempt to saw my wife in half! The mans wife wriggles out of the buggy, dressed in a dirty pink bridal gown. She lies down on the pavement and the man produces a saw. Wait! I cry out. Dont you need to put her into a box first? You cant really saw her in half. Its just a magic trick. The skeletons, now alerted to my presence, start to boo me. Go back inside! they yell. Frightened, I do as they say, locking the hotel room door behind me.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 12:57:08 +0000
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