Chatter and windows were shut down, so as the lights. We hid under the covers and held our breaths. The flying death was coming. It was slim, and had a green-olive beak. It had no eyes. Its mission was to fall. It was as heavy as a truck.
We heard the piercing cry coming from outer space. The earth stood still to the waves of the bird’s cry. The sound waves rippled violently in the air; it ripped the air like Moses parting the sea. ”Sway away earthly shields, for heavens to be revealed”.
The bird reached our neighborhood, and the window glass shivered as ice sheets. Heart jumped to haste beats. Lungs shrank, and the humid air vigorously shook, that water droplets suspended in the air. We tried to breathe, but the air was too stiff to breathe in. our hearts beat for blood to pump, but the blood had congealed in our veins.
The bird passed over our roofs for 0.00017 seconds, and my thoughts were cut, my soul clung to my body. I saw humans as standing frozen bodies. I saw earth without living beings. I saw no moment beyond.
I then saw the frozen bodies turn pink. They released winds from their nostrils. I heard the wheezy whistle of our lungs expanding. I heard the blood gush in my neck. The bird had passed. Our souls floated in our bodies again. We were alive again.
Ludwig Meidner: Young man with Straw Hat: sothebys.com
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