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 Today was a bit of drama. For a change…

  I was sitting at my regular internet cafe by the beach in Copacabana getting some writing done while my little rag doll Narcisa was at her regular Tuesday afternoon Reike session, getting her moth-eaten, crack-tainted aura patched up. Its a life’s work, believe me. But one session at a time she’s slowly getting better. Not quite happily, usefully whole just yet… But better than the full-time homacidal, suicidal kamikaze pilot of a few months back…
 Progress, not perfection. That’s what they say at the meetings she goes to every night now. Keep coming back is another popular catch-phrase there too. For her sake I really hope she keeps coming back. That’s something they repeat over and over all the time at those meetings. They say it’s only a suggestion, but in Narcisa’s case, I’d venture to call it a matter of life and death. The difference between outright madness and another chance to dodge the cold box one more day…
  So I was sitting there doing some writing on the new edit of my book Narcisa: Our Lady of Ashes, when the nice gay fellow who works at the place came over to my table.
 ”Can I bother you for just a moment, Cigano?” He asked.
 ”Of course,” I smiled politely.
 It’s good to be polite to people whenever possible. I was glad Narcisa wasn’t there too… Last time she came in the place she was asked to leave by the manager and the police were called. I won’t go into the details of that incident just now though. Suffice it to say that Narcisa still hasn’t learned much about being polite. Suffice it to say I really hope she will someday. If she keeps coming back to those meetings there’s a good chance she will. Progress, not perfection…
  The nice gay fellow pulled up a seat at my table.
 ”You’re a writer, Cigano…” he said.
 I nodded. No denying the fact that I spend the bulk of my waking hours doing exactly that.
 ”Well I know you’re busy,” he continued, “So I’ll be brief. I’m helping to organize an important cultural event for the city of Niteroi across the bay. They’re having a big Gala to inaugurate the newly renovated Teatro Municipal there, and they’re looking for popular writers and artists to participate. I’d like to invite you to be officially recognized for your work and to receive an official honor. A prize…”
 ”A prize?” I said, smiling.
 ”Well it’s a trophy actually, for your contribution to local culture and literary work in the Arts… The prize will be presented to you by the Mayor… Or it could be presented by another writer of your choosing if you prefer… Anyway it’s gonna be a really nice event with a red carpet and lots of celebrities and cocktails and tasty food. Real first class affair….”
 ”Wow!” I said. “That sounds great!”
 I immediately thought of inviting my famous local writer friend Mayra Dias Gomes to come along. With a red carpet and free booze, it wouldn’t be a hard sell for Mayra… I asked the nice gay fellow if it would be alright to bring Mayra as my guest. He almost jumped for joy.
 ”Mayra Dias Gomes! A filha do Dias Gomes? Perfeito!!”
 That being said and done, he took down my information and gave me an official looking invite, assuring me I would be put on the roster of celebs to appear on their web page. Wow!
 I thanked him and he thanked me. Then he got up and went back to work… I wondered vaguely if he’d just heard of me by word on the street or if he’d ever read my work… And I wondered for a moment if the mayor would still want to get up on stage to give me a trophy if he ever did read it… Whatever. Sometimes interesting weird shit like that happens. I’m not in the habit of saying no to invitations. Maybe that’s a character defect… But the phrase “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” comes to mind.
  I smiled and tucked the fancy invite in my back pocket. Then I went back to work on my book. I was working on a chapter in which Narcisa shits all over herself at my friend’s house and I describe the anal fireworks in graphic detail… I laughed out loud a few times thinking about the mayor handing me that fucking trophy…
  It is indeed a strange and wonderful world…

 -to be contd.

Copyright Jonathan Shaw 2008.

NOTIFICAÇÃO: Os eventos relatados neste site são contos de ficção registrados na Biblioteca Nacional com todos os direitos autorais revertidos ao autor Jonathan Shaw. Os personagens mencionados são inteiramente fictícios. Certos eventos, personagens, lugares e relatos, foram baseados em fatos reais, porém qualquer semelhança a qualquer pessoa viva ou morta se trata de pura coincidência. As várias fotografias apresentadas se encontram com o rosto distorcido para preservar o anonimato das modelos que representam personagens fictícios.