Laws of Annihilation by Eriq La Salle

Author:Eriq La Salle [Salle, Eriq La]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

28

Both Spider and Ezra were struggling to stay awake. They alternated nodding in and out of consciousness. Spider could see Ezra fighting it as much as he was. Not that either one of them could offer much in the way of defense if their captors came to do further harm to them. However, both men wanted to know what was coming and when.

Spider looked up at the tiny piece of sky through the hole in the ceiling. Just a few feet away from the open space, there was an overweight pigeon perched on a beam, resting comfortably, looking down on the two men. Spider thought that unlike him and Ezra, the pudgy bird had what they could only wish for; freedom was still an option.

Based on the sunlight, Spider’s best guess was that it was late in the afternoon. He was thankful that his injuries weren’t the same as Ezra’s. As horrific as it was losing his fingers, Spider thought, at least he still had his eyesight. He still had the power to behold things in the world like sunlight, portly birds, and even the hope of seeing his son’s smile again. He was still alive. They were still alive. As much as he hated Ezra, he certainly hated their captors more.

“Don’t make sense for both of us to try to stay awake when we can just take turns nappin’. Go ’head. I’ll wake you up in about an hour,” Spider offered.

Ezra didn’t say anything in the way of accepting or rejecting the suggestion, but five minutes later the low rumble of him snoring was confirmation enough.

Spider kept himself awake by documenting the tiniest of details of their prison. He watched the shadows in the room expand in the afternoon sunlight. Dust particles slow-danced in the air, clinging to the golden rays of their spotlight. Spider smelled death in the room. He looked around until he spotted the carcass of the rat that had been wounded days earlier. There were a few flies now feasting on its corpse. A wolf spider crawled near the rat and the happy scavengers. The spider slowed as it came within a centimeter of an unsuspecting fly preoccupied with its abundant meal. There seemed to be contemplation and then the moment passed. The spider found its own spot on the carcass, joining in on the feast. The fly and spider were within touching distance but focused on a much greater offering.

When it was Ezra’s turn to stay awake, he listened to the darkness. He deciphered the sounds that presented themselves. He still heard life in the old building. The wood occasionally whined as it swelled then shrank in the humid air. High above him he heard the coo and wing flaps of a pigeon that had somehow found its way into the building. Ezra heard flies buzzing in the room and the soft thudding of rats traveling inside the walls. The thing that he was most grateful for, though, was the sound that he didn’t hear: he didn’t hear human movement.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.