Jane Unrue - Love Hotel

The child

a young man now sent off to school

as from a hovering point of view deriving from an upper corner spot

was tiny enough that she his mother who was graceful light methodically at work upon a purple gown of heavy satin with a pattern of gold peacock plumes was ignorant of his presence. He could see within the purple gown a golden wildness into which he could have dropped himself although he also saw among the golden eyes within the pattern overwhelming possibilities for not just weeping rivers but for sending out a multitudinous unyielding one eyed mesmerizing stare back at the world.

Upon a dreadful morning she had floated high upon a bridge however now she lived inside a closet dedicated to a gown that would precede another gown another gown another until one day when she was working diligently on a sheer white silk chiffon

the neckline of the bodice square in front

V shape in back

just like a story

gathering of the finest ecru lace to frame the neckline

split in two:

1. seamstress who was rescued from a railing

2. little mother drowning in the icy depths below

the bodice heavily embroidered with a silk floss goldenrod design outlined with silver thread through crystal beads the straight skirt flared just slightly at the hemline flowing into a sweeping train originating at the hip.

Perhaps it was the future that revealed itself to him all splattered across the goldenrod design traced through the skirt increasing in a heavier pattern of embellishment as it approached the

splattered on the

No mere hemline it was nothing less than an inevitable explosion of gold crystal beads among gold sparkling rhinestone studs

Not just embellishment

all splattered too.

The hip.

The hip.

Unable to endure this he would pray to be transported elsewhere.

Where?

The fact that I could check or lock my coat my suitcase tote bag everything I carried made the City Museum quite well suited to my situation. In addition to a fancy glass walls (Restaurant: Y) there was a central courtyard entered through a (Cafeteria: Y). I brought my tray into the (Outdoor Seating: Y) to eat among the families tourists locals mostly there in pairs except for elderly people who like velum cutouts flapped at times almost invisible in shifting autumn light. The galleries the corridors so crowded

everywhere

filled up

then layered over

all those faces

buried under

peeking out

I was so desperate to get out of there the whole time I was there.

Come here.

WITHIN THAT MONTH I took an unexpected course of action that although a little reckless shocking quietly it had presented itself to me as simply unavoidable. It happened three weeks in when I went home from work. Third Friday in a row when they had not shown up. As soon as I walked in I fell into a heap of sobbing on the floor . When I had managed to collect myself

Go wash your face dear.

Pull yourself together.

Get to bed lie down and try to go to

I decided I would call. Before I called them I made certain that my number was restricted from the view of anyone I called. I was not calling them for talking.

Then what are you calling for? Don’t call.

She answered. Never did she sound upset annoyed unnerved nor angry or afraid. Hello she said again. She waited as if she were listening to an incantation being spoken. As if spell had finally delivered speaker to a pause she said Hello again.

I was afflicted with a powerful sense of guilt when on that Friday night I turned to see them seated in their usual corner spot. However this new weighty burden also was invigorating to experience as if by some strange art I had succeeded in delivering them to there myself. I wondered if they knew the call had come from me. Because of how she looked at me throughout the evening I determined that she knew. I was convinced however that he did not know. Our little secret. On that night we went to their estate. I was supposed to spend the night but did not make it all the way. Still dark it was so very early in the morning when they had me driven home. Next evening I stepped on the platform looking down the line all doors all windows of the train.

Some people say that when they hear a person say that he or she had no idea that something either was about to happen or it had been going on for

for example criminal behavior

marital affairs

an unlocked little locked

My first night in that hotel when standing in the hallway listening

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before I went back into my

I took the elevator down to 3. I walked. I did not see a thing on 3.

What does he look like I had asked.

You’ll know him when you see him she had said.

Which room is yours I later asked her. Then

Which room is his .

These people say that people who insist that they had no idea about such things are lying.

lacquered box.

I took the stairs to 4 then took the elevator up to 7 where the hallway lights were out. Still nothing. No one. Took the stairs back down to 6.

I turned the corner entering a long transitional space that linked the statuary to the paintings in a gallery called Baroque . This long transitional space was covered on both sides with

mirror images

a matching painted reproduction of a set of draperies hanging from a fancy valance pulled together at each side with lavishly painted golden ropes that left me feeling weakened in the knees.

I did not go into Baroque .

Heart palpitations challenged by a draining queasiness throughout my limbs I claimed my things then started walking back as quickly as I could to that hotel.

Inside a KITCHEN doorway leading down into the BASEMENT (Night Six) she said It’s the oddest thing . She said I just don’t see you very clearly in that big apartment building you are living in. She said I see the building in the distance. Getting closer I can see the walkway see the double doors can even see into a little of the lobby. I can feel your feelings hear your thoughts. Make out the numbers on your door. She said But I can’t enter into where you live.

She closed the BASEMENT off said We won’t go down there then led me back upstairs.

The contrast was

The windows in the basement all have iron bars she said as we proceeded up. She said And if I understand you half as well as I

She stopped herself.

She turned looked back at me said By the way do I detect in you a little

Stopped.

The change in atmosphere as we proceeded from the STAIRCASE FROM THE KITCHEN TO THE BASEMENT to the STAIRCASE HALL that led us back into the STUDY where he had been waiting for us with some special late night sweets produced in me immediate sensations of relief.

This was the night when I had been invited to stay the night but did not make it all the way.

cheeks pink eyes outlined blue blue lidded lashes body scented blue no straps no cups legs shimmering sheerest blue shoes blue blue velvet buckles ankle straps she waits inside this room in waning candlelight where sapphire powder for her eyelids got into her eyes all images dissolving in it as she lies down on the bed her face now floating down upon the blue tears staining streaks into the cotton white

I took the elevator up.

One day a man went out of doors to call out for his wife.

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They gathered they petitioned on those walls that had been papered in the very same (607) aspects of an ordinary Chinese lifestyle. On the same red background brightly colored figures

As the man’s wife had not answered any of his calls he had no option but to go into the forest searching.