An Open Window

An open window. A torn out page from a old newspaper sits on a pile of papers on a desk. An old Avant-garde paperweight holds the page down as it flutters in the breeze. On the floor, under a chair, a bald cat licks itself, stops, and then stares. Insect wings buzz. A large fly glides drunkenly on the air, skirting past the furniture, settling on the wall. A single green eye peers out from behind the corner of the desk and looks up at the intruder. In one motion the naked cat leaps up and lands, placing its paws between the stray books and pages smeared across the top of the desk with deadly precision. As it steps toward the edge of the table, towards the fly, its rear foot crinkles the old newspaper article which reads:

AKRON, OH -- With the need for evidence high and time for deliberation running out, sources confirmed yesterday that the grandjury set to indict local butcher James Killgore was still hung this afternoon. Killgore, who was alleged to have sexually molested three chickens last fall, if convicted, will face a life sentence without parole. "I just don't understand what there is to think about here," remarked a disgruntled Steven Scholtz, the local courtroom sketch artist, who, having spent the last of his ninety days rendering countless sketches, had finally tired of drawing the same faces over and over again. "He's a chicken fucker," he added. Feeling exhausted and overworked, Scholtz noted that even old Evelyn Harris, the court stenographer, was granted two days leave to soak her hands in salt baths on account of her arthritis. "The only good thing was two weeks ago; there was that blonde character witness, she had a little cat," Scholtz told reporters as he slowly scratched a lingering itch at his left nipple, "she was fun to draw."

Martha Grahm, Scholtz's friend and former lover, told news correspondents that the whole case had been hard on everyone involved, especially her. "Just last week Steven called me and asked me to drive him to Michael's, for more art supplies. He told me he'd run out of yellow paint," she added.

Presiding judge for the case, Judge Larry Bido, delivered a statement earlier today that the deliberation proceedings were taking longer than usual, but that a decision was expected sometime within the next 69 hours.

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With a crunch, and then a tear, the paper rips and the cat is in the air. Its hairless tail smacks the paperweight over and sends it crashing to the floor. No longer held in place, the torn paper floats up off the desk before the cat can even land. Drifting on the draft, the thin sheet of paper flutters into the next room through the open doors. Embarrassed, the cat trots in after it. So does the fly. The fly spits at the cat, buzzing just above its head and laughing. "You missed me," it says, "you missed me real bad." The cat hisses and swats fiercely at the fly. But the fly is too fast. Sitting on the old arm of a couch, the fly rubs its little black hands together and cackles. "Cock a doodle doo," it says, and spits again. Clucks rain down on the cat, calling it, antagonizing it. The cat pounces once more but the fly too easily evades it. This time the fly speaks to the cat from atop a ceiling fan. "You know why I am here, don't you?"

I'm here to do to you what you did to me, the fly said without saying.