the nailhole in the wall behind
the toilet creeped him out a bit
its attitude changed
day to day
sometimes . . .
it had either been made by a rusty nail too
large a diameter for whatever it was that hung from it -- he based
that on the fact that it penetrated only the sheetrock there was no stud behind it to hang something
heavy though why anyone would hang anything
heavy directly above a commode your back
to it was beyond him -- or the hole itself had rusted
sometimes . . .
it seemed to watch him
appearing dark then bright and shiny like a
fluttering eye or a portal
whoever punched the hole in the
wall was sloppy
they didnt center it
between the corner
an adjoining exterior
wall and lavatory mirror or make center up
directly from the toilet
they missed it by better than an
inch to the right
obviously
he could make that out by eye
yet if
he imagined the absent piece framed
they did approximate
the height to hang it by
he wondered if they didnt get
lucky
since he moved in and found the
nailhole hed been thinking about hanging a piece of art over
its leering
but the thought of filling it in the
meantime struck him repugnant
perhaps it was an airhole
and the last thing he
wanted to be responsible for was asphyxiating
something
too many times hed heard his
girlfriend in the shower suddenly talk out loud
-- the
house if you werent in the same room
together seemed to deaden their voice
take them as if each room was an
entity onto itself it was a mild irritant -- hed walk into the bathroom and say Sorry baby I was in another
room Were you talking to me
and unremarkably Now
shed say I could have swore you
were in the bathroom just on the other
side of the curtain I saw your
shadow against it heard you breathing
No
I
was in the other room
but then she was experiencing
exactly what hed experienced since moving in
Their roommate
or roommates
hed laid out enough wall
constructions and built enough houses to distinguish partitions or bearing
walls
hed know if space was lost in rooms to secret runs between walls hed built them
this was only a partition wall between the livingroom and bathroom standard code
when he caught the brief
fluctuation between dark and light
then dark again
peering
from the hole
it
seemed the look came from a long long way away
a glass pressed at it a
microscope
a telescope
it stayed his hand
queerly
from hiding the nailhole
behind anything filling it denying
it
creepy Yes
threatening No
he was also aware that the more
he knew the less he knew and many things
defied explanation
so why explain them
why the abject requirement to
understand them
they let them be
(though secretly he hoped they
creeped them out a bit too)
Tuesday
afternoon, 20 1. 15
1248, Wednesday,
21 1. 15
