mirages

i glanced at the houses across the street and saw a herd of geese squatting on the roof; on a closer look, they are chimney vents, little black posts mimicking long necks protruding from dark circles melted through the snow. the shapes diffused through bare tree branches.

one of the weekend mornings i was alone in my room as a child, i saw a bat-like creature flutter across the sky out of the corner of my eye, towards a house at the other end of our long driveway. i searched for the bat against the side of the house, but only saw a flap-like smudge against the dark plastic siding above their side door. maybe that was the bat, clinging to the slats. when i looked for it the next day, it was still there. when i looked for it the next week, it was still there. the day we moved away from that house, years later, it was still there; i crept up their yard and stood directly underneath it. it was the bathroom vent. there was no bat.

03 February 2018 16:10