153 lines
8.4 KiB
Plaintext
153 lines
8.4 KiB
Plaintext
______ ______ ______________
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\ / \ / ____ \ ______|
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| |________| | / \ | |____
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| ________ | ( {} ) | _____)
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/~~~~~~~~~~~ | | | | \____/ | |______ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~\
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| |~~~~~~~ / \ / \ / | ~~~~~~~~~| |
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| | |______| |______| /_____________| | |
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| | ...Hogs of Entropy Text Files Present... | |
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| | "Cries of Night" | |
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| | By: The Stranger | |
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\ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ /
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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The apartment was on a back street, next to the rat infested alley that
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sliced between two low-rent apartment buildings. The window was open trying
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to pull in the outside chill and the sounds of the night came in like an
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unwanted visitor, bringing in the sirens of the police cruisers and the yells
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of the wandering gangs who own the night. The heavy fog of darkness stood in
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the apartment like a soul that whispered and spoke their mind as it roamed
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and took over every space of the room.
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Lora lied drenched in a bed of sweat and sickness watching the puffs of
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smoke swirl off of her cigarette and rise to the ceiling where it would mix
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with the darkness of the room. Her shirt was attached to her like an outer
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skin as he swat turned the white shirt to a dullish brown color. Her head
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molded into the pillow as she waited for her fever to eat her alive, waited
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for the final chill to come blowing in through her window and bring her close
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to life one last time.
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Next to her bed stood her night table which held a small AM-FM radio
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that quietly brought in sweet music from a world that seemed so far from her.
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An empty grass stood on the table, once filled with a cool stream of water
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that she had poured out across her forehead trying to cool down the embers of
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the fire that was raging in her head. A lamp with a dead bulb stood useless,
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only a decoration now.
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Lora listened to the stream of music that played from the radio, she
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listened to the way her breathing tried to stay with the beat without her
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knowing it. She tried to hear the song, tried to think of its title but her
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mind was drunk with disease and all her thoughts seemed to be running out of
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her body with the sweat. The low male voice swooned inside her, whispering
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words she couldn't understand but the voice was able to almost make her feel
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as if she wasn't alone.
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But she was alone.
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Drowning in sickness, she could feel her mind start to trickle away.
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Outside her window screaming sirens erasing the music of her room, filling up
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the empty spots of her brain. The humid summer night rotting in her bones.
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The walls dripped with brown mold like a mudslide, slowly crawling down
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towards the floor. The sweat tickled on her skin like an invisible stranger
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blowing on her feet. Her muscles were slowly twitching beneath her skin as
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the hot blood worked its way through her system, building up her body
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temperature like a furnace.
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The roar of the sirens washed away under the night sky. Only the music
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could be heard swimming through the darkness of her room searching for a
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listener who might need some company until the sun came back up and
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brightened up the day.
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And she could hear her heart pounding in her chest. Loud, crashing,
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banging. Pounding in her chest, ringing in her ears. She listened to it
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closely, knowing that if she didn't listen even for a moment, it could stop
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and that would be the end of everything.
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Another sound came flowing in through the window with a soft cool
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breeze. A loud screech that became soft and constant until it was only a
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him. Like a lullaby in her ears. She recognized it at once, should always
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know the soft whimper of a baby crying.
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Lora turned her head slowly until she could see out her window.
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Something was there. A white glow that was further out the window then she
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could see. She turned her body over, it was as if she was moving in a lake
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of water, slowly her muscles began to work once again and with all the
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strength she could find, she sat herself up in the bed.
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Each step was a challenge, she knew at any moment her muscles would give
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up and she would go falling to the floor and later that would be where they
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found her dead body. But with every step she found herself closer to the
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window and with every step the crying that was like soft music in her ears,
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grew louder. The white light outside the window began to take shape before
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her eyes, molding like clay as she began to see clearly out through the
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window pane.
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She stood before the open window, her hands down by her side, the music
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and the sirens only a memory of long ago. All she heard was the crying.
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Outside her window she watched the baby, watched the mother holding the child
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place a blue pacifier into the babies mouth. They stood only two feet from
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Lora but yet they stood on nothing. Floating in front of her was a mother
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and her child.
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The baby no longer cried but only made a low whimpering noise as it
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sucked on the blue pacifier. The mother turned towards Lora and smiled.
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Lora smiled back.
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The mother suddenly lost her smile and a look of worried surprise struck
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her lips. She tried to speak but her lips could say no words. Lora could
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feel her heart shuddering in her chest. The mother lost her grasp and the
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child began a descent to the ground below.
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Lora screamed and reached out for the child. Before she knew it, she
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was chasing after the baby until the two of them met on the ground below.
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Lora could feel the blood oozing out of her head, she could feel the cracks
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in her bones when she tried to move. Moments later she watched as the
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darkness of night swallowed her forever.
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Detective Anderson stared out the window, his eyes tracing over the path
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Lora had taken to her death. Such a beautiful girl, he thought, what a
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shame. This was an easy case to solve but a hard one to think about. All
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along her dresser stood tiny remnants of cocaine. Anderson could easily
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piece this case together. She gets strung out on cocaine thinks she can fly
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and down she goes. He sees it all the time.
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"Detective" someone says behind him.
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He turns to see one of the young rookies on the force and he says "Yeah,
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Jimmy?"
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The cop clears his throat and says "Nothing outside. Just the girl.
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Only some trash, some beer bottles" he wipes the sweat off his forehead "and
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a babies pacifier underneath the body."
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"A what?" Anderson says.
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"Yeah a blue pacifier, lying right under her body."
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"Well if they find anything else, just let me know" Anderson said.
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"Yes sir" Jimmy says and then leaves the apartment.
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Detective Anderson gathers his things and turns to leave the room. He
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looks over the room and for a moment he finds himself thinking that this room
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is alive. He leaves the apartment laughing at his own nonsense and slowly
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forgetting the sound he heard the whole time he stood in the apartment. The
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loud cries of a child searching for his pacifier.
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|=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=|
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| _____ Call Goat Blowers Anonymous for the LATEST HoE! _____ |
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| 6/ ^..^ (215) 750 - 0392 ^..^ \9 |
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| \_____(oo) This Issues Featured Support Board is: (oo)_____/ |
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| WW WW Corleone WW WW |
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| (306) 078 - FUNK |
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| ...the kings of modern goofiness... |
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|=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=|
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Copyright (c) 1995 HoE Publications and The Stranger. #85 -> 06/16/95
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All rights Reserved.
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