Page 63 - Vol. VII #8

Queen Victoria exhibited no interest in circusfolk or sideshowmanship and yet there she was organiz- ing a wedding that included as Martin’s best man General Tom Thumb, the “Adult Infant” who had the body of a six-month-old child but the intelligence of an adult and who wowed crowds with his disserta- tions on current political events all delivered in the highstrung squeak of piqued child, while Anna’s bridesmaids, or rather bridesmaid, was the Siamese twins Millie and Christine McKoy, who were billed as “the Two-Headed Nightingale” and who walked the isle ahead of Anna singing Amazing Grace in perfect two-part, two-headed harmony.
“Anna Bates had recently delivered the largest
Yes, Martin Van Buren Bates didn’t need to be re- minded that The Lord works in mysterious ways; what Martin Van Buren Bates needed to be reminded was that the Lord also works in mundane ways, in hack- neyed ways, in everyday ordinary humdrum hohum commonplace clichéd ways and, unfortunately, that was something Halsey Hulburt just couldn’t say to a giant, not today, not any day.
newborn baby ever recorded in human history: twenty- three pounds nine ounces, nearly thirty inches tall with six-inch feet.”
– That’s right, boy. We’re almost home now.
Neeeeeeeigh...
Yes, the Lord works in both mysterious and unmyste- rious ways, which is like saying He doesn’t work at all. We’re all born blind. How could we be otherwise? We’re born blind and we become giants, one and all: giants of suffering, giants of sorrow, giants of pro- found disbelief and misunderstanding. What a circus, Halsey thinks. What a goddamn cruel, uncaring circus. He is crying softly now.
– Easy, boy. We’re going home. We’re all going home.
Navicky is the author of 3Essays on Imagereality (Montag Press) and Humboldt: Or, The Power of Positive Thinking (Chicago Center for Literature and Photography). He attended Denison University and the University of Auckland, where he was awarded an Honors Master’s Degree in Art History with a focus on photography theory. His work has appeared in Chicago Literati, HYPERtext Magazine, Fiction Writers Review, and Necessary Fiction. He currently lives in Columbus, OH.
Neeeeeeeigh...
The largest baby ever born on earth, right here in Seville, Halsey Hulburt shakes his head in disbelief. Yes, grace is an amazing thing, if you can find any of it. Amen.
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