The world smeared into a kaleidoscope before his eyes. He was vaguely aware of the sensation
of falling, but it seemed more as if someone was telling him about how he fell
down than he seemed to actually be experiencing it.
He could barely remember what it was he had been doing
before the colors wiped the real world out of his consciousness. It was as if he were about to be
crushed by a great stained glass window and the memory of all his sins, his
betrayals and indiscretions had finally come back to destroy him. There were two sides to him. One wondered why his legs would not
work to carry him aware from the closing horror of retribution and the other
shrugged and said, “I had this coming.”
Neither side had any influence over the coming events. The colors continued to dance and swirl
before his vision, blotting out the face he could hardly remember had been
before him when the spell came over him.
Who had that been?
Were they seeing the colors too?
Then all went black.
When his eyes began to open, he felt surprised by the sudden
lack of color that met them. This
sunny summer afternoon and the bright blue sky above him was pale in comparison
to the stained glass nightmare that he had nearly succumbed to…What? Mere seconds ago?
Yet here he was, being hoisted up by the elbow to a sitting
position on the sidewalk outside the coffee shop and given a glass of cold ice
water by a pleasant looking gentleman in a grey suit. A man that looked somehow familiar and thanked the busboy as
he walked away.
“Here, drink this,” said the man in a muffled voice. He briefly glanced to the man’s mouth
as he accepted the water, expecting to find he was speaking from behind a
scarf, but he wasn’t.
As the cool water hit his throat, more sensations began to
return. The sweltering, oven-like
heat surrounded him and pressed into his skin. His memory began to rush back to him and he recalled sitting
down across form the man at an outdoor table. He remembered that he had a business proposal for him, for
this man who was, just moments ago, a complete stranger.
He gulped the water and felt the cool liquid momentarily
line his stomach before the oppressing heat from the outside advanced.
“Perhaps we should get you inside,” said the pleasant
man. “The air conditioning may do
you some good.”
“I’m feeling better now,” he replied and accepted further
assistance getting into the chair he had just fallen out of.
He remembered what he had come to do and wanted to get it
over with. He glanced around and
saw that the other patrons were busy going about what they had been doing prior
to being interrupted by the scene he had made. He was disappointed slightly in himself. Making a scene was very contrary to the
way he preferred to act during these deals.
“My goodness,” he exclaimed and fanned himself with the
newspaper from the table. “It
get’s so hot in this city during the summer. I must admit it’s a heat that I am not accustomed to.”
“Are you sure you’re alright?” asked the man.
“Oh yes, I’m fine now,” he assured him. “But where were we?”
“Well,” the pleasant man said, looking puzzled, “you had
just sat down across from me and told me that you could provide me with what it
is that I seek. But before I could
ask who you were, how you knew what it was that I seek or what you would be
asking in return, you fainted.”
“Ah yes,” he smiled.
He took another sip of water and leaned forward, his elbows on the table
as he folded his hands. “I believe
the answer to the last question will answer the first two, so I suggest we get
down to brass tacks. The payment I
would be asking for is nothing more than your soul.”
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