Outside the Window

Part 6

         New Orleans is truly a fascinating place. You just have to embrace the true feeling of the place. Smell the air. It may not smell like CK, but it's relaxing. A mix of donuts, beignets, rat crap, pee, sewage, cake, water, soap (they wash the streets), newly tailored suits, new lamps, ragged clothes, old stone, dirt, a mix of many genres of smells. It may not smell good to you, but to Mandy it smelled good. It just depends where you are. If you're in the Ritz, it smells like cake. If you're by Burban, you get the rat crap, pee, soap, sewage, water, and old stone. If you're by Du Monde, it smells like cake, beignets, old stone, and donuts. It just depends where you are. Mandy had to smell all of that while she walked throughout the place. It was nice, walking everywhere and smelling. She had to sit, unflinching while she had Ms. Halk do her caricature. It came out accurate, according to the many people she asked. She hadn't wanted to waste thirty dollars. But that was a long time ago. She'd stayed in N.O. for at least three weeks. Doing the same thing. Getting an occasional customer. Walking. Sleeping. E-mailing. Walking. Walking. Walking. Resting. Talking. Smiling. Frowning. Many things she'd done whilst she was here. Plenty of things. Fun things. Boring things. Everything. Most of all, she'd been looking out the window. Expecting to see Paul. Since her last encounter with him, Mandy knew he had the power of magic. Some sort of magic, anyways. Tracking her. Putting her to sleep. Constantly looking out the window. Morning, midday, night. Three times a day. She'd look out her window at home and see him sometimes. But not anytime recently. That was two weeks ago. He'll be back, Mandy thought. But not today. And, so far, not any day. Mandy had wanted to go home, see Panther, Smoky, and Ginger. But no. She felt like New Orleans, Louisiana, owned her somehow. It'd taken a toll on Mandy. She needed to stay. It wasn't the cheapest thing ever, but it had to do. So she'd come up with a plan. It would save plenty of money, and she wouldn't have to miss her pets. Of course, it couldn't be a big one, but it had to be one. Just enough room for her pets. She'd buy a house.

TO BE CONTINUED...