The Tourists
They acquire him in a bar that is famous for its shipwrecks.
His eyes are blue marbles.
Drinks are a continuous stream.
The elaborate stories he tells alter them warp and weft.
They disclose all their secrets.
In the air the sideband voices of amateur radio operators is a fluttering electronic chorus.
They have always known him.
They walk with him past fishing boats that hang in the air.
He leads them to the water, to a labyrinth and an azure plane.
The dissolving of the waves is a laugh track.
He weaves them into the environment.
They have always been here.
He is the warp and weft.
They float among the pillars beneath the docks.
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Author's Note
No. 72 from my 100 Days Project, Edge Effects:
Other stories by stephen hastings-king
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exquisitely "woven into the environment", as you said. the mysterious protagonist has got all my attention, the tourists are extras. enjoying not just this one, but all your 100 day entries, stephen.
Like this *
Yes. Great phrasings and form, Stephen. I like.
They must be Americans to give so much of themselves away for free. Love the language and the format, especially like the strangeness and ambiguity of the blue marble-eyed man.*
Think I've been in that bar.
"They float among the pillars beneath the docks."
Felt just like the next day.
*
thanks very much for the reads, comments & faves.
the piece is based on an encounter sat. night. the bar is the crow's nest in gloucester, which became a tourist attraction because of the perfect storm.
when the tourist couple left with their kinda scary new friend in tow, a friend turned to me before they were even out the door and said:
serial killer.
that's how the piece got started.
@marcus: i'm pleased that you like the series. it's acquired a kind of momentum, but sometimes i think it's most apparent if you read it in numerical order. the blog displays backward.
jp: on the first line of yr comment: absolutely.