the coolblue powderedblue cube on El Camino was losing its icy demeanor  to sized and sawn pieces of reused plywoodvertical patchwork screwed into its stubborn sides

an icecube wounded and scabbing

the blue cube was melting despite built of wood and slathered with stucco that was applied as-smooth-as-a-babys-butt

above the front door now secreted behind plywood were wounds where an awning hung a high rectangle of brighter blue paint  a dismissive shadow

the face of the housethe front door was a foot back from the edge of a public sidewalk and a singlestep stoop just large enough for two kitchen chairs laid on top the sidewalk 

he recalled the small fight between the city and the old woman who lived there the local newspaper carried the story  the city violated her property line and she wasnt going to have it  and when the wind of jurisprudence blew away the feeble smoke clearing her the stoop remained 

                                                if the front door wasnt hidden behind a decrepit sheet of plywood and a posted UNSAFE City Ordinance notice one could read the clipped yellowed article of her victory inside a brittle plastic sheath thumbtacked to it

other metal awnings hung over other windows at the sides of the house and over another doorway that let out onto another stoop to an illkept scant gravel and stone driveway

he never went behind the house  the property was curtailed by a ramshackle stacked threefoot stone retaining wall

an easement paralleling the drive on the opposite side of the house led to its rear 

he neglected remarkably his curiosity out of respect for the privacy of who lived behind the old woman

the awnings at the sides of the house were collapsing which he thought oddthey were stout

                                                                                                 but it seemed since the house was clapped with rancid plywood the old lady removed?dead? that either the weight of the vacant birdnests or the small birds perching on them singing their gay songs had finally defeated them  or that they were sorrowful eyelids that no longer had any reason to remain open and gaze  the support scrolls on either side of the awningslike musical clef notes were squeezed into whole notes or mournful mouths

Ah dismayed he wondered if the old woman had lived alone

                                                                 the coolblue powderedblue cube for her made as much sense to him as a shoe made sense for the old woman who lived in a shoe – she had so many children she didnt know what to do – and they abandoned her as soon as they could

                                                    and her children never looked back

for they were certain their memories for the most part were fabulous fiction and really  really who would have fealty to fiction

woefully he missed the cubes vitality

1310,  Monday,  27  7. 18

1024,  Twosday,  24  7. 18