Flightless

The most profound form of skulduggery negates the sense of adventure and wonder at the mystery of the human condition. The mercenary wields it like a tie clip and the jealous lover is encompassed by it like a barefoot peasant running on sun-baked asphalt like a flightless bird. It is as old as the Nile and as rank as a sewer and it will be quietly sipping water by the maternity ward tomorrow.

Beauty falls

A clumsy circus performer holds a dainty woman's heel in the palm of his hand. Up he looks at her face, as radiant as the sun, extending her hands to the heavens shaming the constellations around her. Every thought but her evacuates his dim mind. For a moment, he hesitates and in an instant she crashes headlong in the net. He sees her sprawled beneath him like a trapped animal and tries to recover that image of beauty once more.