episode five: spiral-bound books.

christine turned the magnetic fields up a few notches and walked to the corner of her bedroom.

she knelt down beside her bed and opened the white cabinet, where spiral bound books stood single file. she reached in, grabbed the top three books and gently lay them on the quilt-covered bed. one cream-colored with dirty, ratty edges. another with the black and white photo of a daisy held shut with elastic. the last scarlet colored with the image of an asian girl closing her eyes. woman. words. wisdom. she opened that one.

she sat perfectly still, nestled between the wall and her bed, kneeling as if she were about to pray. her head tilted slightly, resting on her left arm. her right hand resting on her lap until it was time to turn the page.

page after page after page. line after line after line. her eyes hypnotized by the black scrawling. as if they were looking beyond the pages, or maybe through them, seeing something nobody else could possibly.

18 january 2000