short collection of stories by jguest

8/7/2019 Short Collection of Stories by JGuest

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Snowy Canvas with Fox

The clock radio starts to play, and his eyes slowly

open. Sleep grit hugs the corners of his eyes andkeeps them closed. He crumples out of bed, and bytouch he paws the tops of books that are stacked andform an endless maze in his bedroom. Empty winebottles and the stubs of cigars litter the floor. There isa white shroud of ash that covers the furniture. He

makes it to the bathroom, bouncing from wall-to-wall

in the hallway. The faucet comes on and muddy waterflows in spastic spurts for a moment, then it becomesclear. He joins his hands under the water and cups itin his palms. As he splashes his face the water stingshim with its’ coldness.

“Rob?” a voice calls, “Are you going?” He doesn’trespond to the woman in his bed down the hall.

Instead he turns the knob in the shower and the waterpounds the floor. He looks out the window and sees asnowy meadow. Amber stalks rise up from the snow

and somewhere in the canvas there is a red fox with abig bushy tail and black boots that shuffles about in a

zigzag way. He goes this way and that and then hestops to look about. The man begins to see his ownreflection in the glass. He blinks and sees that throughthe window there is only a brick wall. He thought itwas the countryside where he grew up but his eyes

have tricked him.His mind is a patchwork, of events. There was

the day that he came home to the woman, and he did



not recognize her. Even today, he still has no idea

who she could be. He thinks she lays theremotionless, waiting to reach inside of him and pull out

all of his warmth. There is no name by which to callher, for she has none. She is asking him nothing butquestions and receiving nothing but silence. He laysawake every night to protect himself from her. He has

painted a sigil beneath his bed in a mixture of tobaccoleaves ashes and cheap wine. It has a stickyconsistency, but it keeps her away so that he can

sleep sometimes. In the morning when he awakesshe is always with him. He comes out of the showerand lay with her again. He stares up at the ceiling fan.The blades turn widdershins around and around, it

brings him into a kind of rest, but she snarls and sniffsbeside him.

In the morning he lays down and outside he

hears the sound of a bluebird of happiness. Hourslater, the front door is ajar and the tub is clean and

dry.Everything is back the way it should be. She is like aknotted clump of hair at the back of your head thatcomes undone and is brushed well, or the time whenthey pushed all the pianos into the street and doused

them with gasoline. The people looked on andclapped their hands. Everything is fine. There is just aman, and the imagined woman has gone away.There is no fox, and no canvas. There is a window.There is a page of fallen snow and the rays of sun



that shoot out of the horizon. The woman in the

bedroom has gone the way of the fox; the fox haswalked from the canvas.

Night Before Morning (Stoplights)

Moon wax. Sun gone. Dish clean. Elizabeth stands at the

sink. She looks out of the window. To her the moon looks

like an archer’s bow, and beyond the moon are ten

thousand suns.

“Henry? Henry?” He folds his newspaper and looks up

at her from the kitchen table. He rubs the wooden edge,

running both hands along the worn texture. Hands away.

Hands joining.

“What can I do ya for darlin’?” he asks.

“Henry Jack, I need you to fix that reading lamp on

my side of the bed.”

He nods. In the corner of the kitchen is a grey turret of newspapers that comes to Henry’s waist. He adds one

more. Elizabeth gets a dizzy feeling suddenly, she sees only

the moon and then the stars begin to wriggle and tango like

a can of worms. Her vision becomes a—

She slams her knee into the cupboard under the sink.

Pain smells like batteries. This happens, as Henry is about

to leave the kitchen. He turns to look at her. “Henry,” shemeets his gaze and thoughtfully itches the dry skin on her

elbow, “be careful out there. Bring back the light and you

can do me for that.” She winks.

In the garage he shakes his head, he blinks, smells the

gasoline. There is jasmine in his mind. His hand grabs the



rung for the garage door and pulls up. The car clicks for a

moment and starts up. Outside the streets are whispers.

Every intersection is a listening ear. Street lamps hide and

reveal Henry Jack’s face to the night over and over. Hethinks that maybe he will make it to the Home Depot and

home. I’ll fix the light and be her hero. The intersections

can hear his wish. The roots in the ground snicker in their

caves. “Careful, careful Henry Jack, they mimic.” Be

careful what you wish for.

The night accelerates as Jack applies pressure on the

gas pedal. All the lights at all the intersections are green

just for him. The ground water gurgles with delight. The bars and the cars creep into motion; a carousel starting to

spin, a wheel of fortune only he can move. Henry gets the

reading light as he knew he would. He sits at the first

intersection, the first of ten he crossed to come here.

Light red. Thumb bitten. Henry chews at the nail.

After three minutes he spits the rind out of the window.

Henry is looking first down one side of the road he intendsto cross, then the other. His stomach sounds and he

remembers the bag of chips in his glove compartment.

It is a crushing blow for the cars and the bars and the

roots and the listening ears. The whispers of the road fall

down like gravity fells a tree that makes no sound. Henry

winces at the taste of the stale potato chip. In his mouth he

runs his tongue around the roof, the texture of soggy

newspapers.

He smells the fragrance of a rosebush on the side of

the road. Grasshoppers madly play on their instruments.

They sit comfortably on the leaves of the roses. There are

no cars that wait behind him. To be alone is what Henry is.



Sitting in a car on a Saturday night, doing the chores. Birds

find their way back to the nests. Henry waits for the light to

change.

The roses become. They become a stranger. Thestranger is a woman with hair the color of a shadow on the

sidewalk, eyes the color of a purple emerald-cut diamond.

She wears no make up but there is a sun in her left eye that

sees Henry Jack. Henry Jack the adventurer, Henry the

imminent philosopher, the letter writer, the light-bearer,

Henry Jack who no longer cries in the movie theater, the

sun in her eye sees. The sun has a twin in Henry’s soul. It

burns just as brightly.The tiny musicians hop off of her sparkling blue dress.

The rosebuds also fall to the earth and are slowly

consumed.

Gloria says, “You know me? Do you see me Henry?”

He turns and he sees her. He does not know her

though.

“Do you want me…Henry Jack?”“As much,” he stops and sees the roses scattered

behind her, he marvels at the leaves in her hair, “ as any

man wants a rosebush.” She pouts and looks at the sky. The

suns upstairs look back at them.

“I would take you home, if you were roses.”

“You know that I cannot claim that felicity. I am the

first of three tests. I am a part of you Henry Jack, but you

will not remember this in a moment.” She winked at him

with her left eye and then she was Gloria, the cashier that

had rung up his purchases. She wore a khaki shirt and black

pants, and orange apron and work boots. Gloria waved and



walked back into the Home Depot and the light turned

green.

He realized the car was in park. He shifted into drive

and made his way through the first of six lights. At theseventh stoplight there was a row of cars waiting.

Sawhorses and orange blinking lights flanked them on all

sides.

There was a sign jutting out of the sidewalk’s end that

said CONSTRUCTION AHEAD. Officer Tyler was

leaning into the window of each car that passed. He spoke

to them, they answered and were waved along. Henry

watched slightly bemused and soon it was his turn.“The password Mr. Jack?” a smile appeared out of the

Tyler’s expressionless face. With every passing car the

Tyler hoped he could turn one away. The Tyler’s feet grew

in pain with every passing car.

“The password?”

“Yes, the Password.”

“I believe it is, ‘The one who is one, beautiful andcourageous, is also of two.’”

The Tyler frowned but waved him on. The password

always changed as soon as it was spoken and Henry knew

every single one. Henry crossed the eighth, ninth and made

it to the tenth dark stoplight.

At the tenth light it was not red, green or yellow. It

was as dark as ‘the dark night of the soul’. He stopped to

watch for cars and none crossed. Then his car stopped

running and broke down. There is always a rainbow across

every page. Even as I write this many miles above the

ground a ray of sun passes through a corolla of ice frosted



The paper was folded in half horizontally and placedon the table. On both sides were various shapes andscribbled lines. There were diagrams and symbols

and charts showing subjects and objects. Frompositive and negative, protons and electrons, stamenand pistil, masculine and feminine to male andfemale, the chart read.

There was a picture of the sun and the earth andother celestial bodies. It rested on the table between

the two women. Together they looked at the piece ofpaper on the table. They were completely fascinated.

There was the tree of life sketched out and a trianglethat said Father, Son and H.G., one on each of thethree points. There was a yin yang and another

triangle with numbers all around it. Sandy and Aaronwere two girls who had just met at a bar and after a

couple of drinks they went back to Aaron’s place tohang out.



“It’s only a block away,” Aaron said, “I can make

us some more drinks if you want to.” They went to theapartment and found this paper on the kitchen table

and Aaron began looking around for the cause.“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said

Sandy, who was staring at the paper and breathingcalmly. “By the way, have you ever been married?”

Aaron said, “Well…no, no I haven’t. I havetrouble with people, I like to watch them, but get tooclose to anyone? No, people are too unpredictable. I

like my solitude Sandy. I like to watch animals at thezoo, which feel complete equanimity with theirsurroundings. Life is a dance Sandy and if I lose myfooting and someone steps on my feet I go to the zoo

for a while and I feel better.”“Aaron. What’s the matter?”“Nothing, I…I am not upset,” Aaron said. “I’m

fine.”“Yeah, fucked up insecure neurotic and

emotional…fine.” Sandy touched her hand. “I barelyknow you. Well…you—could count the last threehours, but it just doesn’t seem like nothing’s wrong.”

Aaron smiled and wiped at the corners of hereyes without smearing her makeup.

“Oh…don’

t cry,” Sandy said.“What does this piece of paper mean? It frightensme that someone’s been in my apartment. No onehas my key and yet here it is!” Aaron was visiblyshaking. She dabbed at the tears with her fingers



again. She was careful not to poke herself in the eye

with her fake nails painted a lime green.“You know we had a good time at the bar. Just

relax. I’m sure we

’ll find out where this paper came

from soon enough.”“I bet the doorbell will ring any minute now with

an answer good enough to satisfy the both of us.”

The doorbell buzzed. Aaron lived in an apartmentafter all. She grasped Sandy’s hand. “Please answerit. I don’t know who it is.”

“It’s not my place. I hardly know you. We

’re bothkind of giddy though,” Sandy gave Aaron a toothy

smile, “I’ll answer your door darling.”Aaron nodded slowly, but she did not smile back.

“Lighten up sweetheart,” Sandy said, “I’m on it.” Shekissed Aaron on the cheek. When she opened thedoor there stood a man in a white suit, expertly

tailored. His white fedora and his ivory cane he restedagainst the wall as he walked in. He gave no

introduction.“You just let him in!” said Aaron.Sandy said, “He walked right past me.” The man

smiled at Sandy and winked. “You could at least havesaid hi pal. Why don’t you tell us where you come

from?” said Sandy.“And who I represent next perhaps…I—am surethat you would love to know.” He gave both of theladies a smile and sat down at the table.

Sandy followed and sat down as well.



“Do you know anything about this paper mystery

man?” Sandy said. Aaron could only nod. Hermovement was slower this time, like a collection of

tics.“I’ll go make some drinks.” Aaron said.While Aaron was over at the bar the man said

nothing to Sandy. Sandy also kept her mouth shut,

but she was dying to say something to him. She justwanted Aaron to be in the room in case he saidsomething important.

Aaron came back with three mugs filled with iceand a green drink to match her lime nail polish. “It’s aJamaican Paradise,” she said.

“It certainly is!” said the man in the white suit, “I

don’t mind if I do have a drink.”What a weirdo, Sandy thought. He freaking

winked at me. She shook her head and caught him

glaring at her as he sipped the green libation. Sheraised her own glass, she raised it above her head as

if to toast the three of them, but instead she brought itto her lips and took a sip. Upon tasting the tequila andthe midori, she took a larger drink from the tall mug. Itwas delicious.

Aaron was not drinking her Jamaican Paradise.

She was watching the ice cubes crack and meltagainst one another as she was cracking againsteverything in the room. She curled a lock of hairbetween her fingers. Her eyes were glazed over andher breathing was shallow and uninvolved.



“Aaron, my name is Morningstar. I would like to

make you an offer and I think that you should reallyconsider it, because you need what I have to offer.”

Aaron looked at him and squinted her eyes. “Youthink you need what I offer anyways, and it is the endof the month and I have a quota to meet. In thisspecial case, I won’t be asking for your soul, I only

want your apartment and everything in it except foryou. In exchange I will give you two wishes.”

He opened a white briefcase and a light shone

out of it so brightly that even he had to look away. Hepulled out a small cardboard white box with a blackskull on the top and handed it over to Sandy whopassed it to Aaron. Sandy said, “Do I get a deal with

you? Because I don’t want one if I do, and I don’t takeoffers from Morningstar if you catch my drift. Maybe Ishould leave.”

“Yes Sandy,” the beast said, “if you knew whatwas good for you, you would leave.”

“Oh, to hell with it! I want to see what Aaronwishes for you bastard. I’m staying.”

“As you wish. What do you think of my offerAaron?” Morningstar said.

“I really like my apartment and everything in it.

There are two things I would really want, and theyaren’t easy to get. Can you give me a little time tothink it over?”



standing all day. It’s really not good for you. Soon

you’ll feel sober and tired as well.”“You mean tried,” said Sandy.

“I mean that too.” He turned to Aaron and smiled.“Hello Aaron. I’m sorry I was gone so long, but youdidn’t call or anything. You know?”

Sandy said, “You know, I don’t believe this crap.”

“I know that. It’s okay if you don’t believe. I’m realenough to your friend here. I’m sure that she has tworeally good wishes to make.”

Aaron spoke up. She said, “What if I wished forall mankind to be given admission into an age ofpeace? What about permission to eat of the fruit ofeternal life?”

“These are things that I cannot grant. Don’t askme for such things. You must wish true.”

“I thought I could wish for whatever I wanted.”

“Well you can’t.”“I wish that you would kill yourself,” Aaron said.

The Morningstar said, “I would not be able to doit.”Sandy was drifting in and out of sleep on thetable. “What if I killed you?” asked Aaron.“You should really make that your second wish,”

he said.“You are trying to trick me. You cannot be theMorningstar.”

“Fine, I’m not. I’m your neighbor down the hall.My real name is Rufus. I just wanted to figure a way to



get you to leave this apartment because I sold my

soul to him in order to procure his powers for a weekand it’s been three days and it seems like his powers

leave something to the imagination. I was tryingsomething out.”

“Why did you lie to me? And Sandy too,” saidAaron. Sandy woke at the sound of her name. Rufus

sat. Sandy was staring right at him. Her eyes flashed.She opened her mouth to say something but closed itagain. She had a white purse with the letters L and V

scattered all about in pastel colors. She reached inwith her right hand and pulled out some body spray.Sandy took the cap off and put the bottle behind herback. Rufus was still looking at the floor.

She walked over to him and motioned with herleft hand for him to look up at her. When he did shetook off his black wire rim glasses and sprayed him in

the eyes. “Oh.” Rufus fell on the floor and rubbed athis eyes vigorously. He planted his hand on the floor

and Sandy firmly planted her boot heel on his hand.He cried out in pain. She kicked him in the ribcage.

She turned to Aaron, “Help me pick him up.”Aaron nodded. When they got him on the chair again,Aaron ran off to get some rope. What kind of powers

have you got then?” Sandy asked.Rufus whimpered. He said, “I can fly. I can speedup time—You knew that. I can take you to anywherein the world if you want to go…please don’t hurt me.”

“Is that all?” she said.



“There may be more I could do. I don’t know. I’ve

only had the power of Morningstar for three days.”“Since he was able to give his powers to you, that

means you could give me the power too, am I right?”“Sure, I—guess I…why do you want to?”“I’m curious. The powers aren’t all that great but it

would save on time and airline tickets I guess. Since

he gave you the powers, you also have the power todo so. I want them now. Why did he give you hispowers?”

“For my soul of course!”“Pretty crappy powers for a soul if you ask me.Give them to me.”

Rufus closed his eyes and began to tremble and

suddenly the powers were bestowed. Big deal.“We could give everyone this power. Let’s give it

to Aaron too.”

Far away, Morningstar was sitting on the beach

in a lounge chair sipping a Mint Julep.The sun was setting and pink wispy clouds that

were shaped like melting steps glowed with innerbrilliance.

He could appreciate the artist through his works,

but he still cringed when he thought of how thearchitect could get so much blood on his instruments.Somewhere in the trees, a wood thrush sang its’

complex song to the dying day. “My little friend hasbroken the contract. Now he must pay the price.”



his forehead with blue luminescence. “You. Share out

power with none unless you would share the fate ofthis fool.”

“Morningstar,” said Aaron, “What about thewishes?”

“You shall receive your desires by giving themup, not by seeking wishes from tricksters such as this!

Immortality and knowledge of all things is a crutch. Iknow these are your wishes, but think on this. Deathgives our lives meaning. Without it, why would you

create? What would the point be if you had all thetime in the world? You want to know everything?There are things that are known, things unknown andthere is the unknowable where no one can see. Leave

well enough alone before you hurt yourself.” TheMorningstar vanished and Rufus disappeared withhim.

Sandy said her goodbye to Aaron and left theapartment three days later. She walked down a long

and lonesome road. There in the middle of the roadshe saw a shiny point of light. She walked into it andsaw that the universe was just a drop of moisture on ablade of grass. She went further still. She flew up intothe sky and found that it was made of glass. She tried

to bore a hole in it and when she came out, she sawthat she had been inside of a marble. The marblerolled down the street and into a gutter. It was rainingand the grass smelled like old books. The dropletshelped Sandy to grow to twice the size of the marble



and she flew down the gutter to find that there were

billions of marbles piled up in the sewer. There werebeams of light rising to the edges of what is and what

is not.



Johnny’s Dilemma

“How to stay alive in the woods?” asked Leah.She wiped the crumbs off of her blue corduroy vestfrom the rainbow chocolate chip cookies that the threeof them had been eating.

“Yeah. Have you ever tried to do it before? I onceread this book about living off of the land.” Johnny

said.

Leah said, “I don’

t really like to camp very much,”she saw a chocolate chip in her lap and stuck it in hermouth. She was still scowling as she sucked.

“The last time I went, Offred came and she spentthe whole time in the tent screwing with Fred, her newlover. I felt like such a third wheel.”

“When do we take the casserole out? I’mstarving,” Morgan said.

Johnny looked at her. He rubbed his tonguearound his lips. “Soon.” Then he squeezed his handswith their white knuckles tighter into the arms of hisbrown velvet chair. Being a pot seller had its perks.

He liked his furniture and he liked Morgan. His sisterand his new girlfriend sat on the matching brownvelvet couch and giggled. “Offred is a bitch,” he finallyadded, “What were you doing while they got it on?”

“You know me. I was laying down in the back ofthe car with that bottle of rum that you bought for me

bro,” Leah said.



Johnny said, “Do you wanna smoke another

joint?”Leah said, “We just smoked fifteen minutes

ago… Don’t roll your eyes at me. Bitch.”

Morgan smacked her on the leg. She spoke inher soprano voice that everyone but Johnny could seewas annoying. “Jeez. We just smoked fifteen minutes

ago. Blah blah blah. Can you hear yourself? We girlshave to get what we can. Johnny isn’t always sogenerous.” She made a sharp ‘huh’ sound for

emphasis. Morgan had known Leah for two yearsnow, and they had always been friends. Leah wasn’ttoo keen on having Morgan be her brother’s new babygirl. She had seen what he did to the last one.

“Come on. Don’t tell me you don’t wanna gethigher. It’s my weed anyway.”

Morgan’s eyes lit up. “Oh yeah! Are you going

down to T-town on Friday? I know this guy at workand I was wondering if—“

“What? I would pick some up for you? You neverpay me back. I always smoke you up when you want.I don’t want to front you the money, when you arealready smoking all of my personal stash. How come Ialways front everything? Hey come on. You know that

it’

s true.” She was rolling them around again. “Youhave a job, give me some money if you want somestuff of your own.” Johnny was close to whininghimself. Leah thought that Morgan sure was notbringing out the best in him.



“Something smells really good,” she said trying to

change the subject. It was no use.“Can’t you just get me some? It’s hard to get

money from my parents.”Leah said, “You see, I don’t even have a job and I

don’t understand that. It’s your money. You worked forit! Why do you have to ask your parents for money

that you earned?”Johnny had to put in his two cents. His nickel bag

and dime bag is what it was. “And it’s not my problem.

It wouldn’t hurt if you pitched in every once in a while.I take all the risk to get some weed, and you’re more

that happy to smoke it, but whenever Friday rollsaround, everyone is too busy to take the drive with me

to the spot or get any for themselves.”“Johnny? Was mom home when you got here?”“Maybe. Leah. Why? Should I light some

incense? I got a few sticks of Nag Champa. We couldburn that.”

“I have to ask my parents about going camping.I’ll tell them that it’s gonna be you and me, Leah. Theydon’t want me sleeping places with boys.”

“Whatever, great.” She turned to Johnny, “I guesswe don’t mind bumming everything off of you. You’re

my big brother. I’

m supposed to be a pain in your ass.It’s in the rulebook.”“Is the casserole done yet?” Morgan said.“I’ll go check. Try not to smoke all my shit while

I’m gone.”



—Jason GuestOn Being Betwixt and Between

Part I-The Fool

I

Down by the banks of the river, the ferryman hoed hisyams. Darkness was slowly swallowing the blue of the

sky. On the other side of the river, there was a pathinto the forest. A double rainbow could be seen fadingaway among the jade tree branches. Ganesh stoodon his side of the river watching the rainbowdisappear. There was water boiling in a metal pot

hung over his fire. When the ferryman Ganesh turnedhis attention to the water’s boiling he also looked

towards the east to the crossroads far off in thedistance. As the night gained, it was getting harderand harder to see the road.

The path that leads away from the river on the

ferryman’s side turned into a dirt road. At the



crossroads one could continue east to the town of

Market where the Rajah lived. To the north of thecrossroads was the town of Hedda, and to the south

was the town of Tavern. To the west was whereGanesh the ferryman lived along the river and theforest. As the sun set a figure appeared out of theforest.

Ganesh saw the stranger from across the river.The ferryman’s eyesight was still quite sharp; his facewas old and looked like the bark of a tree. He eased

his old body up and walked proudly to the river. Hesat in the boat and rowed across. By the time thestranger had reached the river the old man waswaiting for him on the bank. He nodded and reached

out his hand and Ganesh helped him into the boat.The stranger wore a cloak that hid his face and theshape of his body well. Ganesh looked into the

stranger’s shadowed face and said, “Welcome to myriver. I am Ganesh.” The night was very silent and the

only sound the ferryman heard was the quietbreathing, the paddle gliding through the water anddroplets splashing on the river’s surface. The strangerwas not one for long conversation. He was content tohear the ferryman speak in his accent.

“You should stay the night in my little hut, there isan empty bed,” said Ganesh “and besides, it is notwise to travel in the fields and swamps of this landduring a black night such as this. The moon is darkand you would stumble and lose the path.”



The stranger smiled although Ganesh could not

see it. He appreciated the ferryman’s concern and toldhim so. They reached the other side of the river and

this time the stranger got out of the boat and helpedold Ganesh onto the bank. Then, he took the hood offof his head. His skin was bluish and dark. He couldsee the surprise in the old man’s eyes and the

stranger winked at him and smiled.“I am obliged that you would have a creature

such as me in your home. I am Barnabas. There is

only one way I can pay you back, but it will be a bigpayment. You will have to do me a favor,” he lookedcuriously at Ganesh, “for my payment will be worthmuch more than your ferry service.”

“You don’t have to pay me, consider the ridefree,” Ganesh said. He looked at the stranger andfrowned.

Barnabas laughed, “No, I am afraid you mustaccept this gift.” his eyes flashed, “For I have no

choice but to give it to you and you have no choicebut to receive it.”

Ganesh was troubled by this one’s manner, hisblue skin and strange clothing, but he said, “Well I amhungry. We will eat and then you shall stay the night.

Let us work out this business later.”The old man went into his hut shaking his headand returned with two clay bowls. He also brought outa pitcher of rice wine. They ate dried yams and riceand told stories until late in the night. They drank rice



wine and eventually Ganesh slept. Barnabas carried

Ganesh into the hut and laid him carefully on a bed ofstraw.

Then Barnabas changed. Suddenly he was ablue fox. He leapt over the fire and ran across thefields quicker than it takes to tell it. Ganesh woke onlyonce during the night and heard an unearthly noise. It

sounded as if a man and a beast were howlingtogether in the dark cold night.

When the ferryman awoke the next morning, he

rubbed the grit out of his eyes and turned onto hisside. Then he quickly and quietly got up and walkedout of his hut. The fire was still burning well, so hewent down to the bank and pissed into the river. He

saw a dark cloak drifting south down the river so heturned around. There he saw Barnabas, now cookingrice over the fire. The pitcher was filled with fresh

water and Barnabas handed Ganesh a bowl of rice.The color of his skin was no longer blue. He

looked browned by the sun and his brow was light. Hehad a beautiful face and in the sun Ganesh found himmuch less disconcerting to look at. While Ganesh ate,Barnabas spoke to him.

“I have to pay you, and then you will owe me one

boon. This apple belongs to a street magician wholives in the marketplace to the east.” Barnabashanded Ganesh a silver apple. “She sells pottery, thedesigns of which she finds in her dreams. Take this toher and you will have earned your payment.”



“Oh, I think you should just take the free ride

before you go and pay for it already.” Ganesh used allof his charm. “After all, I do not wish to go on some

kind of fool’s errand. Surely you can find a fool to take

this journey for you.”The wind blew through the trees on the other side

of the river. Ganesh stared into his bowl of rice and

then he looked at the ground. Barnabas was laughingunabashedly and spooking the birds out of the treeswith his jest. He became still and then Barnabas

waited for Ganesh to look into his eyes. When he didBarnabas continued and Ganesh started to eat somemore.

“I have stolen this apple from her and if I return it

she will turn me into a scorpion and make me stingmyself to death.”

Barnabas reached for the pitcher and drank. As

he drank, he stared hard at Ganesh. He put thepitcher down and sighed. Ganesh looked at the silver

apple. He was not a fool and he did not want to goand leave his river. Especially when people needed a boat to cross it, he thought, this time of year, many travelers would need to get from the forest to the market and someone would have to row them across.

Ganesh was not a fool and would not accept any kindof gift for any ridiculous boon.Barnabas gave the ferryman a black wooden box.

It was ornately carved and Ganesh saw that it wouldnot open unless it was unlocked magically. The wood



was dark and shimmering and Ganesh guessed that

someone had been killed for Barnabas to get it.Barnabas did some guessing of his own and

said, “Oh, no one was killed for that box. The streetmagician gave that to me. She said that she had nouse for it as it was a catholicon, and there wasnowhere to put it besides she said. If you ever open it,

I am sure there is great magic inside.”“Catholicon! A medicine to cure all disease!”

Ganesh snickered at such ridiculousness, “Listen to

me, you fox! I have no desire in me at all to leave.There are plenty of fools on the way to the market. Ihave business of mine own.”

short collection of stories by jguest

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