random excerpts from

Pink

by Peter J. Ponzo

an Agatha Christie-type whodunnit ... (or is it whodoneit?)

I saw her bathing, inviting evil dreams of lust and desire, and I knew she was the angel of death, sister of the devil, temptress and siren. I must rid the world of this harbinger of doom, precursor of ungodliness. Her worldly body must be dismantled so that no eye can behold that iniquitous and cursed carcass.

And I did find her garbed in pink and I did destroy her.

Great Lord of the World, Breath of Life, weep not for the damned for I have cleansed the world of the devil's kin.

      I thought that the first letter was a joke, a magical missive, and I was thrilled. It was a wonderful, electrifying statement. It said: Sister of the devil, you are dead.
      It was slipped under my door and I found it that first Saturday in August. I read it again and again and again while I sipped my morning tea and knew right away that it was from Leah. She's my best friend and lives in the apartment at the end of the hall. It was just the sort of thing she would do.
      So I wrote her a note and slipped it under her door that very same evening. I even bought some pink paper on my way home from work, just as she had done. I'll bet we even bought it at the same store. I spent some time thinking of some fantastical, mysterious and mystic reply but eventually wrote simply: You're dead too!

      I saw Leah at church the next day. She was talking to Father Pollicciano after the service, standing on the front steps. Most of the congregation had left but she was still talking, and she looked nervous. I waited, then caught up with her at the corner of Almond and Chelsea. I just sneaked up behind and whispered:
      "Sister of the devil, you're dead."
      She jumped a mile high and when I saw her face I was really sorry I had said it. She was pale as a ghost.
      "Gee Leah, I'm sorry if I frightened you. I just thought ... well, you know."
      "Oh Connie, I'm so frightened." She blurted it out as though it had been building inside. "Somebody wants to kill me!"
      Then I really felt badly about the pink letter.
      "No, no. Leah, it was me. I'm sorry. I was so thrilled with your note that I thought you'd like one too ... you know."
      Then she just stared at me, saying nothing, as though she wasn't listening.
      "The letter, the pink letter you slipped under my door yesterday?" I said it as though it were a question. "Remember? I gave you one too, last night."
      She stared at me then whispered. "I didn't give you a pink letter." Then, as though she just realized that I had given her a second pink letter, she said "What did your note say?"
      I tried to recall what mysterious words I had decided upon and felt a little embarrassed at my lack of imagination.
      "You're dead too. That's what I wrote."
      Leah began to cry and put her arms around me and I knew I had been stupid. But wasn't life a game and wasn't she playing it too?
      "Not that note," she sobbed. "I knew that note was from you. It was the other notes, four of them. All on pink stationery, all threatening to kill me, all calling me the sister of the devil."


      "No Father, it was not my body they found at Miller's Creek. It was Leah Farrel. She had been frightened, she was getting threatening letters, she was tired, she hadn't been able to sleep. I told her of the pond, by Miller's Creek."
      Father Pollicciano looked with gentle eyes and listened to every word. We stood facing each other, a thin ribbon of colored light running brightly across his face from the stained glass window above the Virgin Mary. He was leaning forward slightly, staring at me, his hands clasped by his waist.
      "I said she should spend the afternoon, resting. She had no bathing suit. I gave her mine. It was small for her, but she took it and went to the pond. That day is blurry in my mind, but I know that ... that ..."
      He pulled me to him and held me and I began to cry again.
      "I do remember that she didn't come home that evening, and I got worried. I rode to the Creek on my bicycle and found her body. It was ... it was dismantled ... and -"
      Again he held me, very tightly, too tightly. I could feel his body shaking. Father Pollicciano was trembling. When I didn't continue he held me away from him and I could see that he was disturbed.
      "My child. What a tragedy to behold."
      He paused and stared at me with a strange, wild look. There was a glow in his eye. He was clothed entirely in black and looked frightening.
      "Great God of the World," he whispered, "Breath of Life, weep for this child who has been witness to the work of the devil's kin."
      Then he led me to his rooms beyond the altar.

WEED (unfinished)   and   Sharlain   and   Runner   and   Pink   and   Willow   and   Digger