The woman hanging out onto the window ledge was smoking a cigarette. She flipped her long bangs from her face out of habit. They weren’t bothering her one bit. Her short burgundy hair contrasted beautifully with her shimmering emerald-green eyes. The small lady named Alice; tucked her hair behind her adorable little ears; she brushed her hand up against the dangling bone earring that she had owned for many, many years. She had a matching earring long ago. It was lost just like the passing of time. The accessory was simple: a carved ivory ribcage, elegant in its simplicity, intertwined with white hold. Alice’s most prized possession and it was sticking through a small piece of flesh hanging from the side of her head. She glanced down into the busy marketplace below. Two chalk outlines lay in front of the old thrift store, broken glass sprinkled over them like diamonds. Alice shook her head at the outlines. “Now now, you boys were foolish to try and rob from old man Grindelpoons! He’s a murder, you know!” Alice jumped with fright as the old grandfather clock sitting in the front of the bare living room wall chimed. The noise was eerie and almost unbearable to listen to everyday. It was 5:00…time for Jack to get home from work! Oh her sweet Jack! Jack and Alice! The musician and the writer! Alice loved him so very much; how he would strum on his old guitar every day for half an hour before they retired to their worn down mattress and cuddled for the night; listening to screams and sirens of the town below. Alice was unfit for work for she was a very restless girl, one who grew bored very easily, causing her to spiral into madness at times. Jack was the working man of the house. He made very little money each day, but it was just enough money for the two of them to get by and survive. The familiar sound of the key clicking through the doorknob and the creek of the heavy wooden door opening made is way to Alice’s ears. “Baby doll? I’m home!” Alice rushed into the arms of her lover. The magnificent Jack! His gaunt face was wonderful to her. The dark bags under his eyes brought on by his insomnia gave him a sad look. The thickness of his brown hair made it stand up on end, as if he had just woken up from a night of psychotic sleep. He was very tall and slender. He smiled down at his Alice as he draped his long arms down over her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her. His kiss was like the most amazing drug in existence; like oxy….like vicodin or ecstasy or a sweet kiss from evil from that of opium. He inhaled her scent and smiled down at her. “So, how was your day, my love?” Alice proceeded to recite her day to Jack, he was used to this. Her condition was unique. She remembered each and every detail, being so fascinated by each and everything imaginable. She told him of the cat she saw slaughtered in the alleyway by delinquent children. She told him about how a woman had stolen three hot dogs from Antonio’s deli cart and she had managed to catch the mouse that was gnawing holes in their already worn shoes. Jack sat up slowly and went to the bedroom. Alice heard him rummaging in the closet, a familiar noise to her. She heard the screech of his fingers running across the guitar strings. He entered the living room and flopped himself down on the worn out old couch. He had fastened it himself out of discarded pillows and itchy burlap sacks. It was comfortable to sit in, but extremely itchy. He held in his most prized possession in his hands: a Gibson L-2 Flat Top vintage guitar. It had belonged to his father and his father’s father. Passed down for two generations and it would be passed down to Jack’s child one day. It had three missing strings and a large scorch mark on one end. It looked so natural in his hands as he began to play for his beloved Alice. After fifteen minutes of pacing, while listening to her lover’s music, Alice began to itch in her skin. She twitched slightly as she spoke to Jack. “My King? You know that Christmas holiday is arriving in two days?” Jack looked up; his eyebrows raised….as if he had no idea that this was true. In fact, he hadn’t realized Christmas was two days away. He continued to play a melancholy song; very sad yet elegant and beautiful. It rang loud and clear in Alice’s beautiful pierced ears. Jack looked off into space determining what just he could buy his beloved with the three extra dollars that he had rolled up in his sock. Unbeknownst to Jack, Alice was determining the very same thing only wondering what the perfect thing was for her dearest Jack. But what, oh what could she salvage for two dollars and seven cents? Not much of anything at all. This thought depressed the both of them as they trudged off into their bedroom. They lay awake for a long time, resting only their bodies and not their mind. Alice drifted off into an uneasy sleep while Jack lay there awake, listening, watching his lover sleep with a crooked grin etched onto his face.
The grandfather clock chimed loudly once again. It was six in the morning on Christmas Eve. The brisk wind came through the boarded up window in the bedroom. The smell of roasting meat from the cannibal house down the street made Alice wake up, retching. “I hate that god awful place! Human eating other humans? That’s simply horrid!” She stood up menacingly and paced about the room. Jack watched her calmly as she tore her hands through her hair. Jack stood up and embraced Alice. The sudden warmth of his arms relaxed her and soon they were getting ready for the day. They got dressed in the same outfits they wore the day before. None of their clothes were actually clean enough to wear. Jack pulled his shoes on slowly, being careful not to let Alice hear the change hidden in the sole jingle about as he walked around the living room. He looked over her; his voice was devious, as if he was up to no good. “Okay, my sweet, I have to leave early today. I have some things that I have to get down to the marketplace, and then I have work until 5:00….will you be here waiting for my kiss once I return?” He smiled brightly as she nuzzled her face into his bony chest. “Of course I will, darling!” With this he swept quickly out the door and closed it behind him slowly. Alice knew already what she was going to do with her day. She was going to go from store to store to find Jack the perfect Christmas gift. She waited for an hour or so, puffing on a thin cigarette that she had rolled herself. The nicotine soothed her broken mind. When the sun had crept higher into the sky, (Alice noticed this as she noticed each and every little thing.) Alice decided it was time to depart. She took her mangy old hoodie sweater and stepped out of her home, venturing into the crazy little town below. No snow fell this Christmas season and if it did it would more likely be toxic acidic snow rather than fluffy white flakes. Alice walked down the stairs for the complex and was instantly aware of everything going on around her. The filth and disgraces of this town were infinite. A dog barked loudly at the passing paperboy, a man was being mugged in an alleyway and a store merchant was screaming his head off at a young woman accusing her of theft. Merry Christmas, thought Alice. She walked aimlessly down the street, looking in windows and dodging people, but nothing seemed suitable enough for her beloved Jack. Roasting meat…burning flesh, Alice read as she walked passed the ravenous appetite restaurant; the main course there was human flesh. Alice was absolutely disgusted by this building, just the thought of it made her cringe and she always wondered why it was never shut down. This town was demonic. Alice blinked away tears as she covered her nose and buried her face into her shirt. The smell was disgusting, but for some reason it aroused her taste buds, for her mouth became wet. She hurried away from the restaurant to continue her search for the most perfect gift for her beloved Jack. As she was walking down the street she looked up to see something magnificent. “A music store?” she mumbled. “This wasn’t here before.” Then she sat down on the sidewalk and thought for a moment. “This was the old pet store…it burned down about a year ago. This is what all those strange yellow vehicles were doing, running up and down the street, making noises, keeping me awake at night. The building was re-built and now…this town has a music store. I wonder if Jack has seen it yet?” she thought all of this while turning around to stare into the store window. The window displayed a grand piano and a rack of the most beautiful guitars that Alice had ever seen. She walked into the store, excitement in her heart. There were books of music, CD’s, and tapes. There were keyboards and trumpets along with so many wonderful, musical things. The guitar section of the store drew Alice in. She walked to the back of the store, completely mesmerized. There is was….the perfect gift for her beloved Jack: a guitar strap. Sure, it was simple gift, but it would look so glorious strapped across Jack’s body. The strap was made of shiny, black leather and it had large silver studs sticking out on one side. The strap came in a pack with 12 brand new guitar strings as well as five very colorful picks. They looked like pretty flower pedals to Alice. She smiled at her reflection in the glass of the display case, then, her face fell. Her ears twitches slightly at the sounds of the town. Two dollars and seven cents, she thought. Alice drew her attention to the little green sticker below her perfect gift and it read: forty-five dollars. So much money, Alice panicked. Not much to some, but that could buy Jack and Alice an entire month of groceries. She pulled the crisp green bills out of her sweater pocket and clutched them in her fist. She beat her head against the glass and it made a quiet splintering sound as it cracked. She looked hard at her reflection as if trying to scold herself. She said “Now Alice, if you hadn’t been so self-centered and greedy, you would still have five dollars from that box of doughnuts you bought last week for breakfast! Shame on you, Alice.” She then wagged a finger at her reflection. “TskTsk.” The light flashed through her earring, and reflected off the glass. She tucked her hair behind her ear as she often did and examined her beautifully curved ear in the reflection. Her cute little ears that jack loved so much. The beautiful earring that she treasured. The smell of roasting human flesh stuck to the back of her throat. Her throat tightened and her hand grew sweaty around the two dollar ills. She knew how to get this beautiful gift for jack, she knew where to get the money and she was going to get it. The ringing in her ears would go away soon. She crammed the money back into her pocket and strutted out of the music store. The blinding light made it difficult for her eyes to adjust to her surroundings. She crossed the street and was nearly hit by a crazed car driver who drove away laughing like a mad man. The sign was yellow, the paint was faded and flaky and the letters shone out on red on the faded paint…”Ravenous Petite Restaurant .” The cannibal cuisine restaurant. Alice looked into the window; a man was sitting at a barstool munching happily on….something. Alice’s throat tightened; once again there was that smell. She shook her head. She loved jack very much. She walked into the restaurant. A small bell would be heard jingling somewhere off in the distance. A busboy with greasy hair looked in Alice’s direction and smiled…revealing sharpened yellow teeth. Alice curtsied in his directions, and then walked up to the counter. Where, in a normal restaurant, there would be a bakery rack with delicious pies and cakes on display behind Plexiglas; HERE there was fresh meat. Slabs of meat sat out on display like the deli in the grocery store. Meat, red with blood labeled words like thighs, breast or….Alice cringed….fingers. A sweaty, quite plump man walked out in front of the counter. He was wearing an apron flecked with blood. “What can I do for you, my dear?” he smiled with his eyes; dry blood was crusted on his mustache. Alice couldn’t quite find her voice. “Meat,” she said quietly. “Yes?” asked the man. “Donor,” said Alice. “Why yes we buy meat here. Who might the donor be?”
“How much?,” Alice asked.
“How much?”
“Yes.”
“How much what?”
“How much money will you give me?” Alice yelled.
The man sat there, determining for a moment. “Depends on who the donor is and what part of him or her you are selling.”
Alice looked up at the man, insanity in her eyes. “Me, Sir! How much money will you give me for my ears?!” She tugged on her hair and stuck her fingers in her ears. The man looked at her with curiosity. “Now why would a nice girl like you come in here and sell me your meat? If your desperate for money then go to the whore house down the road.” He started to turn around and walk back into the kitchen. Alice tackled him, full of rage and pinned him to the floor. “I am loyal to my love. To my sweet, sweet Jack! I considered that horrible way of getting money and I just won’t have it! Absolutely not!” The man started to laugh much to Alice’s surprise. “Okay then, let’s have you, shall we?” He stood up with ease and guided Alice to the kitchen. The smell of blood filled her nostrils. Bloody slabs of meat hung from the ceiling, bloody utensils were arranged in a row on a small table. Alice looked around. The man patted her back, “Please, love, have a seat.” Alice saw a small stool sitting in front of the table. She sat down and tucked her hair behind her cute little ears. The butcher came up behind her, wielding a sharp, bloody knife. Alice heard ringing in her ears, felt the pressure of the knife and then saw Jack’s smiling face in the back of her head. She heard him playing his beautiful music. The holes on either side of her head were throbbing, bloody, empty. The pain was almost unbearable, she had to bit down on a cloth to keep from screaming. But after the butcher was done, she felt a lot better after he slipped her a pretty little red pill. She only felt lighter, like something was missing. She screamed in her head, the tears fell down her cheeks. “Jack…my sweet jack. I give you more than my love this Christmas. I give you a sweet, beautiful gift.” Alice could barely remember stumbling out of the restaurant, clutching a wrinkled fifty dollar bill, her head bandaged on either side and gauze wrapped across her forehead. Her hair hid the bandages, but the large blood stains that soaked through the gauze gave it all away. Her nonexistent ears….her cute little ears; now on display in the Plexiglas case; in the case right next to the fingers; those large, calloused fingers with long fingernails. She laughed out loud and stumbled across the street. A horn honked loudly at her as it roared on passed her. She opened the door to the music store and ran inside and over to the case where she threw herself against it. The glass cracked again. The man standing behind the cash register shouted out to her. Alice turned around and screamed, “Open the case! This god-awful thing that locks me out; taunts me when it has something that I was!” the man looked horrified, he ran up next to her and opened the case with a small golden key. Alice stretched her hand out and clutched onto the package holding the wonderful guitar strap, the brand new strings and the flower petal of guitar picks. ‘Jack will come home and kiss me, he will be horrified by my ears, but he will rest his hands on the back on my head and kiss me. He will fasten this beautiful strap around his guitar and then himself and play me a beautiful piece of music. He will attach the strings and use a new pick….well maybe…..maybe the red one or perhaps the neon green on. Whichever my love chooses.’ Alice sat on the floor giggling, clutching her gift. She walked up to the register and the cashier followed her, frightened out of his wits. And then she said, “I’m sorry, sir, for frightening you. Here you are…please give me the correct change and a receipt, please.” He looked at the bloody money, took it with caution and quickly printed out her receipt and gave her four dollars and seventy eight cents back. She smiled sweetly, her eyes out of focus. “Thank you, kind sir.” Then Alice stumbled out with her newly bought treasure for Jack.
Alice could not even recall going into her own house, or lying on her bed. She woke up to the chime of the grandfather clock and wondered if it was five o’ clock already. “Jack!” she rushed to the dusty mirror propped against her small dresser. She looked at her reflection, touched the bandaged holes on the side of her head; the drugs were worn off. Her beautiful ears….the earring! It was still on her ear! She was sobbing into her hands before she heard the door; a rapping noise. Then she heard Jack’s sweet voice, “Alice?”
She smiled, then smoothed her hair down over the bloody wrappings. She opened the door. Jack smiled down at her, his hands behind his back. Alice beamed over at him. “hello, my sweetest love.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead; something was off about him. He stepped into the house. Alice jumped up and down. They spoke at the same time. Jack stopped himself, “continue, my dear.” Alice said, “I found you the most beautiful gift! Merry Christmas, my love!” Jack smiled, “I found you a beautiful gift as we-“ Jack stopped short and looked at her face, his eyes studying her. He said, “Move your hair aside, love.” Alice hesitated and then obeyed. He stared at her bloody wrappings for a long moment and a curious expression broke across his face. He started to chuckle, such a sweet sound. Alice ran to the bedroom, rummaged through the closet and came back. She held out jack’s guitar in one hand and his gift in the other. “let’s have a song, my dear!” Jack flopped down on the couch, hands in his pockets. He motioned for her to sit down next to him. “I’m sorry about my ears, I can explain.” “Sshhhh,” Jack hushed her kindly. “You know that my love for you is complete, my Alice? It is eternal.” She nodded. “Your eyes are truly gone?” A curious thing to ask. Alice nodded again. Jack pulled his hands out of his pockets. There was nothing on the ends of his arms. No hands, no fingers. Everything gone from the wrist down. Nothing but bandages where his beautiful hands should be. “You see? I sold my musical hands and fingers so that I could get you this.” And there, on his bandaged nub, was an earring. It was exactly like the other one…only, cleaner, newer; ivory wrapped in white gold. A perfect match. Alice stared at the ivory ribcage and tears welled up in her eyes. “Oh, Jack…it’s beautiful.” She looked into his eyes sadly. He awkwardly grabbed onto his guitar and pulled it aside. “Ouch.” The blood seeped through his bandages. Alice looked into his dark eyes, pulled his messy hair and kissed his head. She rested her hand on his face and kissed his lips. “Do you trust me, Alice? She looked at him happily, “Of course, I do.” He took the earring in his teeth, held it up to her check and pushed it into her wonderful, smiling dimple. A bead of blood trickled down her cheek. “I love you, Alice.” He said. “And I love you, Jack.” The couple embraced and it was over.
Over time that Jack let his toe nails grow out and he learned to position his beautiful strap over his legs and play with his toes; such strange, but beautiful melodies. They were in love. They were happy.
.Alyss.
12.13.08
12.13.08
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