Overture (Earth Song) Read Free Page B

towards the strange glowing apparition. Victor shook his head against the improbability of such a thing walking as its joints worked in directions and ways Victor had never thought possible. It made the glowing rod disappear into a small pouch worn around its waist, and turned back to regard him once more. Though it had no mouth, Victor imagined it was smiling. Its head gave a disturbingly human nod and it turned, walking gracefully up the three steps to the top of the dais.
    Its feet had three knobby toes and no visible nails. Victor was marveling at how they adapted to the steps when the creature was thrown into stark relief. A brilliant white circle of light had sprung into life over the dais. Within that circle floated a myriad of constantly changing symbols. As Victor watched, the creature reached and touched one of the symbols. It changed its shape as the being twisted it and then pulled the design along the surface of the circle like someone dragging an icon on a computer desktop. When it reached another symbol, the big circle flashed purple and there was a new scene. Through the astonishing portal awaited a strange green-tinted sky in daylight. He looked away and the park was still dark as night.
    Victor opened his mouth to say something but the creature had already stepped into the image to arrive on the other side. “Holy fuck,” he said as the being walked down the steps on the opposite side and out of view. Victor moved sideways to try and bring it back into focus, but then the tableau flashed and disappeared leaving only the milky, white dais behind.
    With legs that quivered from pent up energy, Victor walked up the ramp. As his foot touched the top, the brilliant white circle jumped into existence again. Only now there was no sign of the strange world on the other side. He examined the circle and its smaller cousins with difficulty. They were glowing brightly and the park was dark. There were pictures like drawings floating around the edge of the big circle, images that reminded him of the symbols the Egyptians had used in their pyramids. From somewhere behind him came the warble of a police car moving in his direction.
    Victor wanted to leave, afraid of being caught at this strange site, but something made him stay. The approaching police car must have seen the unusual statue because its powerful spotlight suddenly illuminated him and the structure. He shielded his eyes from the glare and turned away.
    “Hey, what the hell is this thing? What are you doing out here at this time of night?” Victor turned to see the cop car parked only a few yards away. Both the officers were standing in front of their vehicle and taking in the scene.
    He just shook his head. “There ain’t no way you’re gonna believe me.”
     
     
     
    Lieutenant Billy Harper tried to ignore the sounds of screaming and crashing from the Monday morning battle upstairs as he browsed the Times and waited for his coffee to cool. If it was just a Monday morning thing he wouldn’t mind so much, however the Parkers only fought on days that ended with the letter y. Eight years with the NYPD had taught him the futility of calling anyone to deal with domestics. Twenty million people lived within twenty-five miles of where he drank his coffee. At this moment there were probably a half million loud arguments going on.
    His coffee finished, he folded his paper under his arm and headed for the door of his tiny one bedroom Bronx apartment. “Have a nice day,” he said toward the raging argument upstairs as he locked the deadbolts and trotted down to the bottom floor. Outside his unmarked unit waited where he’d parked it. There were a lot of cops in this city who couldn’t take a unit home. If they did it came back in pieces. Billy had lived in this neighborhood most of his life and knew his neighbors well. They watched out for him and he watched out for them. If anyone messed with his unit, it would be a mistake.
    “ Morning, Billy!” called a