Interzone #257 (Mar - Apr 2015) by Andy Cox

Author:Andy Cox [TTA Press]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: TTA Press
Published: 2015-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

I was walking along the river. Like an eclipse, it came to me. Covering everything. Eureka!

This is how it happened. I was walking, one foot after the other – like I always do – and it came to me.

Like the annunciation. It felt divine. Dear Diary, I know I sound crazy. But that’s how it happened.

I was walking along the river. Boom. A flash of white light. Maybe a soft whisper from over my shoulder.

The truth is. If I am to tell it straight. It doesn’t feel like it came from me at all.

In the corner of my eye. It was there all along, like that itch that comes just before you sneeze.

I was walking along the river. In that moment, all I wanted was to get back to my office in my little garage.

***

The entire factory floor, except for the loom in the middle, went quiet when the Boss Lady’s door swung open, banging against the wall. Her office was up on the first floor. It had large windows looking down on the floor; a series of metal steps led to up it. Boss Lady’s shoes clanked as she descended the stairs to the bottom, where a messenger-boy with a large laundry bag was stood at attention, waiting for her.

Like the milliners, she was feline, but bigger, curvier, more buxom like a bobtail. Her tail swished this way and that as she walked, as if to purposefully take up more space. She wore an elegant green kaba of handmade aso-oke fabric, interlaced with fake emeralds that reflected light against the swirling patterns. It had puffy sleeves which made her look grand, and on her head she wore a stylish gele, of similarly exuberant green, looking like a ring of concentric halos flowing outwards. Though she’d tied it herself, it had the gravity defying wizardry of a Segun Gele original.

“Many more returns this month compared to last month,” Boss Lady shouted in a shrill voice. “Production is down 0.5%.”

A collective groan went out across the factory floor.

“At this rate, we’ll have to lay off a few souls. Why can’t we be more daring, like computer games?” she said.

There were many anxious faces around the workstations as she weaved round them, stopping here to give a return, and there to issue stern admonishment. She was firm and business-like in every movement, not a gesture was wasted. She complained about the cost of materials, untidy stations, the state of the floor, missing equipment, nothing escaped her keen eye.

Kitsi and Peshi tensed up as she reached their station.

“And this one is yours?” Boss Lady said to Kitsi, fishing the trilby out of the laundry bag.

Kitsi nodded.

“She’s new,” said Peshi.

“No one is talking to you, little Miss Bigmouth,” Boss Lady replied. From this close, Kitsi saw the freckles on her cheeks and across the bridge of her nose. “Kitsi, I want you to look at the wrinkles in this felt. You didn’t stretch it enough over the hat block. Make sure you steam it well.

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