There is a small Tea Room that dresses itself in faux Victorian style. Although all the furniture is recent, a handful of the pictures on the walls are truly antiques. Go to the Tea Room and order nothing but a cup of hot water. The elderly woman will stare at you as if she knows something you don’t, but she’ll bring you the cup. The tea would only dull your senses.
Examine the photographs and lithographs on the walls while you sip your water. Many of them will have inky black shapes that occlude what is behind the glass. The more you look, however, the more apparent it will become to that the blackness is moving from frame to frame. When it all seems particularly focused on a particular photograph, lithograph or vintage advertisement, get up and seize the framed picture. Take it from the wall and leave without stopping.
Burry the frame deep, someplace far away from the city. Ignore the screaming. Return home and make yourself a cup of tea to steady your nerves. For the remainder of the week, until the darkness makes its way back, none of the corners in the city will be quite as dark or foreboding.Previous Page: 125 - The Window
Next Page: 139 - The Dry-Cleaners