advertises a view of the graveyard,
a selling point for believers in kismet–
a divine hand reaching from the far
side of a life lived.
At night, glass doors open to the view
from a fourteenth floor lanai,
invite images from a spectral dream–
ominous music playing in and out
like breath.
Something emerges from the shadows,
blurs past, vanishes
–a vertiginous free fall from above,
the straight line of a gravitational pull
from below.
A sharp intake of breath.
Skin prickling.
Dread setting in.
The silence that follows.
The piercing scream–
Moooooooooom!
Ricky threw Teddy out the window again!
Prompt: Year of the Ox — October 2021 Contest