Eyewitness

          At sundown great hunter Orion strode above the western trees, in his left foot ever bright Rigel dominating a sky of pastel vermillion. This singular hue reminded Brother Ambrose of tulip pastures he had seen last Spring while driving the Skell Van near Washington's Mt. Vernon. He was sitting on Sonya's patio balcony and sipping her mulled winter cider, homemade from San Juan island apples, with cinnamon, allspice and juniper berries. He envisioned her picking fat heavy apples from fragile low-hanging branches and hoarding them in a wide blue apron. Behind him, back in the kitchen as she washed dishes, there came a clinking of glass. An odd memory: opening a box of custom retorts shipped by UPS when he himself cooked experimental fermentations.
           Mugsy pounced into his lap, causing him to spill a dram of precious cider. She curled up and closed her devil eyes and began to purr. "Whoah, cat! I thought you hated me."
           He shouted to Sonya, "Hey, Babe! Come and check this out!
           Sonya was astonished. "She is onto a new game. So, tell me what's going on at the church?"
           "Oh, some Tam O'Shanter dropped by during evening services, peeked through a window, and then reported to the sheriff that she had seen a mad cabal of witches and demons making merry."
           "Good grief--"
           "It was you and me she saw."


            Through the Tudor-paned window Old Widow McBride saw but a still-life in mosaic. Flesh-tone pixels. Yet she positively recognized Brother Ambrose and his half-breed whore in the midst of an unholy quorum, twelve men and women, cavorting in a frenzied dance of unspeakable carnality.


             "You spoke on Goethe's Urpflanze, the idea that Nature is God's living garment. That all plants evolved from one Original Plant. I must tell you, that is such bullshit!"
              "I wasn't arguing on Goethe's behalf."
              "Where did she get the notion we were naked?"
              "Most likely, our clinging ecru vestments enhanced what she desired to see."
              "She's a fucking liar!"
              "All right. Now come sit with me."
              Sonya drew up an adjacent chair and they sat side by side, able to hug one another. Mugsy woke from twitching slumber and crossed over to Sonya's lap.
               "Clinging ecru vestments, my ass!"