The Devil’s Malware 18.1

18.1
(We rejoin our hero battling the Devil in a pocket of quantum stasis outside of the space/time continuum nestled somewhere on Queens Blvd.)

Snap.

I hear the shutter of the camera click once more.

Night has passed and I stand in the light of morning.
Back on the clock.
And back on the boulevard farther into Queens.
Closer to Forest Hills.

I’ve beaten him.

Turned him to stone with my roar.

Still got faith and hope and it turned the Devil to stone.

But I’m not foolish enough to think I’ve beaten the Devil forever.

He’ll be back somehow. Someday.

Man, even God never seemed able to beat the Devil forever.

Like last night on the bridge.
Looking at the way that light and dark fight it out for supremacy.
Day and night.
Up and down.
In and out.
Two truths in tandem.

For now, I stand in the light of the sun and look at my Devil trapped for a little while.

And look to move on down Queens Blvd.

The Devil’s Malware 18.2

18.2
I roared and howled and wailed like a lion.
The lion is now exhausted.

The Devil’s Malware 18.3

18.3
I duck under cover of the valet parking lot at Da Mikele Illagio.
I take my backpack off, the painting of the two lovers still safe and dry strapped to my satchel, and rest against the wall next to the Bentley.
The closest I’ve ever been to one of these.
My eyes grow heavy.
When was the last time I slept?
The luxury car next to me seems to sing me to sleep.
Like a top-shelf lullaby.
My eyes close and I drift off into slumber.
A last rest before the final push home.
Closer and closer to Forest Hills.

(Tune in tomorrow for the next installment…)