Marie of the City
By: Elissa Timothy
The sudden cry of an eagle, its voice high pitched, cuts the smog of the city. Suddenly death is in our lungs. Our heads bend upwards, sighting the eagle in its flight across the narrow sky, disappearing further past the tops of buildings, only dark shadows. The cloudiness due to factory manufactures and our love of driving cars despite constant idling. The constant amount of pedestrians on the road and sidewalk plentiful as guppies in an aquarium, make the day seem unending. Marie walks out of the office building and so accustomed to the smog, just continues with the flow of pedestrians. She is walking towards the subway, ready to go back home to the suburbs. But not much is different there. She is not thinking about much. She has already conquered much of life, thinking during work. She is ready to relax. Her need to accomplish and achieve made each day outside of home. And home is safe, without potential attack, without failure, without loss, and without acrimony. There is no chance for dying at home. On the subway car, there are too many people, and Marie is standing all the way home. She grasps the pole, and sometimes the strap overhead, and stands with all the others in a sort of zombie existence. Being very close to strangers causes the need to be in a small box, allowing her the freedom to be alive despite not noticing anyone and not caring about the need to not touch anyone else. The exhaustion of getting up every morning and coming back home when the day is over, makes her think her home is actually just a box for her to sleep in ‌ and to have one important meal in every day. Now, being in the subway again, she is thinking that it is the second time she is seeing a particular man. He got on a couple of stops after Marie, the same as the first time. And, also, he has to stand like she has to stand. He is tall. And is dressed in a suit, like the first time. And carries nothing in his hands. Marie thinks that he has a wallet inside of his dress jacket, if not in his trouser pockets. She quizzically looks at him. He does not notice. And Marie imagines he is some senior management or partner, and that every now and then he takes the subway because an appointment, a dinner date, or a meeting, is going to happen. She imagines that whatever it is, it will happen in a well-appointed location, full of important people and important money, and costly accoutrements and victuals. That this important date is someone who is also a mover and shaker. Someone who manages many things and many people and someone who knows how to address this particular man, who knows how to address them. Marie muses about the man, and notices he gets off two stops later than he did last time, at a stop in mid-town. He looks like he knows where he is going and quickly mounts the stairs, they being closer than the escalator. Then, as he ascends, the train leaves the station. Marie thinks
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