A WALK WITH RHADAMANTHUS *
UNWALLED UNIVERSITY
DEPT: Writing: EvG
A WALK WITH RHADAMANTHUS*
{HOW IT CAME HERE, OR WHEN, WE ARE NOT EVER LIKELY TO KNOW, THE TING TO REMEMBER IS THAT IT WALKS LIKE A MAN…}
On eighty -eighth street, little Willie sat in a puddle of his own making and smeared some of it experimentally through his thatch of weedy hair. In order to better evaluate the sensation he rolled his eyes upward, and was instantly entranced by an even greater marvel. His eyes went wide and wider. Wonder gave way to pleasure at his discovery. The stranger, who looked back at him, seemed to send back that wonder and pleasure, multiplied by the shunting between them the way an image is between two mirrors. Willie chortled with glee. His laughter bubbled over and followed the stranger down the street.
On eighty -seventh street, an old woman with bent bifocals nodded and smiled absently from force of long habit. The stranger returned the nod, but could not smile. Instead she was given a courtly bow. The oldster was as much startled as pleased. She turned and peered uncertainly after the receding back.
The stranger walked on. Eighty –sixth street passed beneath the measured tread, then eighty -fifth, and eighty -fourth. On eighty -third street two teenagers in a doorway on a chemical high, registered as sub-human and the stranger passed them by and continued on down emptying streets as twilight turned into night.
When all the grimy urchins has been gathered in, when all the old ladies were nested snugly in their shawls, when the only sign of life was an occasional tuft of scrubby grass punching up through the cracked pavement. The stranger approached the neon jungle of the city’s nightlife.
In an alley, opposite a broken streetlight, a rat pack waited for the unwary. Unseen eyes reflected the glint of knives and chains. The rat pack took its profits more in the thrill of pulling down their betters than in cash. They grinned in anticipation, silent in the sooty dark until the victim should be well past the possibility of retreat. The leader sucked in his breath s the slow, stately figure paused, turned, and walked directly into the alley!
“Well, well, well, he sneered softly, “Here CUM de judge…and that was truer than he guessed. The justice –machine, sensing their lust for brutality, moved forward to receive it…and give it back!
WHERE IT CAME FROM, OR HOW, WE ARE NEVER LIKELY TO KNOW. THE THING TO REMEMBER IS THAT IT WALKS LIKE A MAN….
AND WORKS LIKE A MIRROR!
| *RHADAMANTHUS was a judge in ancient times. His judgments were so righteous that he was appointed a judge of souls in the AFTERLIFE |
Tags: short story
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