Page 14 - Demo

Fantastic Occurrences
A Leaf
A lone leaf lays partially curled up
on the bench. I sit down and pick up the green leaf to take a closer look. The leaf is not only green but also a dozen other colors. There are lines of red, yellow, pink, blue, purple, and other colors, too. I can’t help but smile as the leaf starts shimmering and moving. It tears in two, a black form lling the space between the two halves and sprouting two antennae. The halves smooth out and form themselves into wings in my hand. The new butter y lifts away from my hand and begins to y away. Several feet into the air, the butter y suddenly changes back into a simple green leaf and drifts back down to its spot on the bench. The person I came to meet arrives and, before sitting down, brushes dirt o the bench with her hand, sending the leaf into the grass.
My Shadow
My shadow simultaneously completes every move- ment I make as I walk along the sidewalk. When I
pass under a tree, my shadow merges into the tree’s shadow, disappearing into the mass of dark gray, and when I emerge from beneath the tree, my shadow does not follow. I stop walking and stare at the tree’s shad- ow. After a moment, my shadow begins inching out, separating itself from the tree’s shadow as if mine had gotten stuck within the tree’s. When my shadow (which is just a shadowy, distorted, feminine shape that is not attached to me) fully detaches from the tree’s shadow, it touches its feet to mine and waves at me. I take a step forward, and my shadow is with me again, sharing each movement I make.
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Maggie Damaschke