Abandoned Landscapes Abandoned

A few of us have been playing a game of consequences, each contributing a 250-word story that begins with the last sentence of the previous entry. The theme is “Abandoned Landscapes,” and my piece is the last of eleven. Here’s what came before: 1. Sam J. Miller, 2. Jade Park, 3. Jane Voodikon, 4. Lisa Silverman, 5. Anna Shapiro, 6. Mark Krotov, 7. Wah-Ming Chang, 8. Alex Chee, 9. Viet Dinh,10. Lucas Green.

Especially if the other guy is your son. Especially if the other guy, hangdog and big-eared in the front yard, grinding his teeth the way you’ve always ground yours when life opens its jaws at you—especially if the other guy, leaning against the rock with a concavity in its windward side, as though the wind itself had carved a limestone substitute for the embrace the father cannot afford to give the son—especially if he, heat-dazed and sullen, says, “But you’ll think of me sometimes, won’t you, Bill?”

Then, “Never, Oscar,” you have to tell him. “I’ll never think of you sometimes, and neither will your mother, and if that old tabby comes around again, I’m sure she won’t think of you sometimes either.”

This finally gets him moving, gets him to yank the goggles down over his eyes and ascend by means of rope and pulley, with a heroic flourish that leaves you startled, to the deck of his dirigible, gets him off your lawn and away from this mean ghost of a city, the city you built and let slide into ruin while learning to despise everything you create.

Afterward, leaning into the limestone, seeking what warmth your son left there, you are proud of him, so proud, because you know he’ll return under the enemy’s banner, and perfect with brute will the devastation you begat with mere neglect. And when you stand against him, and fall, you’ll know him precisely as well as you know yourself.

•

Fin!

Wonders & Curiosities: The Halo

“We now proceed to describe The Halo, or Corona; and similar Appearances. —An Halo is a luminous circle surrounding the sun, moon, planets, or fixed stars. Occasionally these circles are white, and sometimes they are coloured like the rainbow. Sometimes one only is visible, and at others several concentric halos appear at the same time….

Similar, in some respects, to the halo, was the remarkable appearance which M. Bouguer describes, as observed on the top of Mount Pichinca, in the Cordilleras. When the sun was just rising behind them, so as to appear white, each of them saw his own shadow projected upon it, and no other. The distance was such, that all the parts of the shadow were easily distinguishable, as the arms, legs, and the head; but what surprised them most was, that the head was adorned with a kind of glory, consisting of three or four small concentric crowns, of a very lively colour, each exhibiting all the varieties of the primary rainbow, and having the circle of red on the outside…. Similar to this curious appearance, was one seen by Dr. M’Fait in Scotland; who observed a rainbow round his shadow in the mist, when he was upon an eminence above it. In this situation the whole country round seemed buried under a vast deluge, and nothing but the tops of distant hills appeared here and there above the flood. In those upper regions, the air, he says, is at that time very pure and agreeable.”

—The Cyclopedia of Wonders & Curiosities, Chapter LXVIII, Curiosities Respecting Various Phenomena, or Appearances in Nature

The Blue Book of Crime

A mysterious package arrived in the mail recently. It contained nothing but a slim hardcover volume, blue with black lettering: The Blue Book of Crime: Finger Prints, Secret Service, Crime Detection.

It is, if you will, a kind of Manual of Detection, only it was published in 1936 by the Finger Print Publishing Association, and authored by the esteemed Mr. T. G. Cooke, F.P.E., Director of the Institute of Applied Science, formerly Director and Official Editor of The International Association for Identification.

F.P.E., in case you’re wondering, stands for Finger Print Expert.

The usefulness of this book is immediately apparent. It contains information on the history of the fingerprint profession and on the life and work of the average “secret service man,” as well as descriptions of some real cases. Furthermore, it exhorts us to “PROTECT THE INNOCENT; CONVICT THE GUILTY.” I think anyone lucky enough to possess a copy of this book will feel inclined to do just that, and may even want to study with The Institute of Applied Science, which, according to the last page of the book, has been “training students by mail in the profession of secret service and identification continuously since June, 1916.”

Why do I call this package mysterious, apart from its contents? For this reason: the sender is unidentified. No note, no name in the return address—just my own address, written in big block letters which I’m sure would prove resistant to the efforts of all but the most skilled F.D.E. (Forensic Document Examiner).

I have only one clue to go on: an Atlanta, Georgia postmark. Assuming I know my benefactor, this narrows the list to several suspects.

• The copywriter. The similarities between the copywriter and the F.P.E. are well documented: both care about the finer details and are concerned with matters of identification. This copywriter also writes fiction, which is very suspicious behavior.
• The poet. The poet is an A.C.S. (Agatha Christie Specialist), so naturally she’s a prime suspect. She moved to Atlanta recently, so might feel inclined to browse used bookstores and send some of the more instructional findings to old friends, to make sure they don’t forget about her.
• The other poet. The other poet, I’m told, is engaged to the previously mentioned poet. Of particular note is the fact that he used to be a carnival employee.

I have little else to go on, so please let me know of any promising leads. And in case you need to identify fingerprints, I urge you to refer to the following illustration: