At Dawn They Sleep

Fly on the Windshield

Harriman State Park (New York)

Carla had been wandering around the nebulous void of the cave for what seemed like hours, and Marozia, while away on her vendetta against the thieves guild, had given her no instruction on what to do in her absence. Her eyesight, however, did eventually adjust to the hollow darkness. The cave's ecology created an ethereal light that aided her to see but gave her zero sense of direction. The only thing Carla knew for sure was she was hungry, ravenous. A bottomless yearning for sustenance and food had slowly risen from the core of her gut like an uncoiled serpent as she aimlessly wandered through meadows of bioluminescent twilight.

But nothing edible was in sight, just rocks, dirt, glowing fungus, and piles of bat guano that littered the cave floor. And when she accidentally stepped in these droppings with her suede boots, it felt like she was stepping into loaves of wet bread. She whimpered and cried and screamed, but no one came to her rescue; no one came to lead her out of the black limbo that stank of shit and microbial rot. This damnable cave of bats seemed as fathomless as her need for food. Her stomach grumbled, and her belly pinched with hunger pangs, causing her to double over and fall to the mucky ground. It felt like her entire gut was being sucked inward to her spine as she vomited blood and bile.

When she finally got back up, she saw someone watching her, a silhouetted figure just a few yards away. "Who are you? What do you want?" She shouted fearfully as drool streamed from her mouth. "I have a gun, and I'm not afraid to use it," she cried.

"Oh, I know you have a gun. And I know you know how to use it." The figure said, lighting a cigarette that illuminated her face.

"Lili?" Carla said, not believing her own eyes. "But I thought I killed you?"

Lili grinned at Carla. "You certainly would have... if it wasn't for the simple fact that, like you, I'm also one of the Chosen."

Carla smiled. "I'm so glad to see you."

"Me too, sugar tits."

Carla winced in pain and grabbed her stomach. "The hunger."

"Oh yeah. I know that old song and dance all too well."

"There's nothing to eat down here in this fucking cave."

"Au contraire, mademoiselle, but that's where you're wrong. There's plenty to eat." Lili bent down and scooped up a handful of the bat feces. "This stuff tastes like every Christmas dinner and Michelin-rated restaurant rolled into one. I guarantee it. Go ahead, have a bite." Carla looked at the pile of excrement in Lili's hand. This was disgusting, deplorable, and absurd... but her hunger raged. Before she realized it, she dove in, ravenously eating the bat shit right out of Lili's hand. It tasted so...fucking...good. "Slow down, sugar, before you take off my fingers. What does it taste like?"

Bat shit dribbled off Carla's chin, and tears streamed from her eyes as raw emotion overtook her. "It tastes like... lasagna."

Manida Street, Bronx

The fly crawled on the cabinet mirror and buzzed as it fluttered around the sink, only to land again on the clean, moist glass where its proboscis sipped thirstily at the condensation.

Roy wasn't sure how long he'd been standing in the bathroom watching the fly. All he knew was that he was entranced by it. All day, he had strange thoughts about a mysterious woman and his brother. He felt he'd done something terrible involving his brother Troy, but he wasn't exactly sure what it was. Images flashed through his mind like glimpses in an out-of-body experience. Had he hurt someone? Had he hurt his brother? The fly buzzed around him, landed on his ear, and crawled inside. He didn't flinch, move, or try to swat or pluck it from his ear. He stood before the mirror and listened to the fly buzzing and crawling inside his ear, making its way deeper into the canal. He peered into the bathroom mirror and saw its shadow as it moved behind the lenses of his eyes, only to crawl out the other ear, where it buzzed back out into the air. He snatched the fly as it flew in front of his face, popped it into his mouth, and felt its little wings and legs frantically beat and scratch in his throat as he gobbled it whole.