The Singularity by Balsam Karam

Author:Balsam Karam [Karam, Balsam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY

The greengrocer asks if there is anything at all he can do and the woman replies no and thank you, replies fine and I don’t know and then hurries on across the square.

At the library those working the counter that day ask how she’s doing and tell her that no one has called, not yet at least, but maybe soon, says the new librarian, who then asks if the woman might like to make more copies of the flyer or add a phone number to the image.

Perhaps you’d like to tell me more about how she was dressed and if she walks or stands in a particular way? Do you have the names of her friends and over the years did she acquire a scar or mark that isn’t visible in the photo that you might be able to tell us about?

The woman shakes her head and says no and I don’t know, says no, I don’t think so as best she can and then there is no more recent picture—they took everything as if she needed to catch her breath between each word.

She speaks almost inaudibly and feels then, as she does several times a day, out of sorts; when her eyes fall on the poster with the photo of The Missing One dressed in her best pants and sweater by the ditch between the former homes on the hillside, she once again knows where in life she is and walks to the door.

The woman says thank you and I have to go now to those who have brought tea and cake and then you are very kind but I really must go before she continues out of the room.

The people working the counter that day follow her and promise that the phone is in working order and the answering machine is on; they say that the long-awaited call will one day come, they can feel it, and just as the woman hears this, she steps out into the twilight and crosses the road.

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