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standing before him. Even though something told him that looking into the eyes
of the black angel would destroy him as surely as the stare of the basilisk,
his head began to turn of its own accord. The muscles along his neck bulged
until they stood out like whipcords, but it was no use. The dark angel could
not be denied.
When at last Page Uxbridge looked he saw that it was the most beautiful thing
he had ever seen in his life-and the most horrible. But the worst of all was
that the angel wore his mother's face.
His scream was swallowed by the thunder of the storm.
000
The sound of running water woke her up. Carla lifted her head from the pillow
and squinted at her surroundings. She was home. In the bedroom. But she didn't
remember going to bed. She remembered arguing with Page, arguing with him
about something-something about Penny-but what? She remembered him pouring her
a drink, telling her to calm down, that she was getting upset over
nothing-then the next thing she knew she was in bed with her clothes on. Her
head ached fiercely and her stomach was queasy. Page was nowhere to be seen.
She swung her bare feet onto the floor, staggering slightly as she got up. The
sound of running water was coming from the master bath. Perhaps Page was
washing up.
As her head began to clear, she realized there was another sound underneath
that of the splashing water. It sounded like sobbing. The first thought that
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came to her was: Why is Penny crying?
Carla remembered the strange young man at the gallery. The one who had said
those things about Page, the things that didn't sound like lies, the things
that he had no way of knowing-that no one knew, except she and Page.
As she lurched in the direction of the bathroom, Carla's confusion was
replaced by fear, then anger. It wasn't until she pushed the bathroom door
open that she realized that the person she'd heard sobbing was her husband.
Page Uxbridge was slumped over the rim of the bathroom sink, the faucets
running full blast, pouring out over the basin and onto the tiles below,
soaking the bath mat. Carla frowned groggily at the water pooled on the floor.
Why was the water pink?
Uxbridge sobbed violently as he splashed cupped handfuls of water on his face,
as if desperately trying to wash something out of his eyes. If he noticed
Carla standing in the doorway, he gave no outward sign. "Mea culpa...mea
culpa...mea maxima culpa..." Uxbridge blubbered in between the splashes.
"Page-? Page-what's wrong?"
Uxbridge jerked his head in the direction of her voice to reveal tears of
blood rolling from eyes as white as those of a baked fish. The gallery owner
made a pathetic hiccuping noise-half laugh, half sob-then returned to trying
to put the fire out in his corneas.
Carla staggered away from the gibbering blind thing that had once been her
husband. She was suddenly more sober than she had been in years. Without
really knowing why, she turned and fled towards her child's room.
"Penny-!"
She found her daughter huddled against the headboard of her bed, crying
softly. Carla gathered her child in her arms, hugging her tightly.
"My baby, my baby-are you all right?"
Penny sniffed back her tears and nodded. "I'm okay, Mommy."
"Baby-did he do anything to you-did he hurt you?"
The little girl shook her head. "No-but he hurt Daddy."
Carla frowned. "He who?"
"Mr. Angel," Penny explained, pointing in the direction of the window. Carla's
scalp tightened at the sound of immense wings flapping behind her, but
something told her she was better off not watching whatever it was leave.
When she finally did turn around, all there was to see was an open window and
curtains fluttering in the wind.
part 4
heaven and earth
But somewhere, beyond Space and Time,
Is wetter water, slimier slime!
And there (they trust) there swimmeth One
Who swam ere rivers were begun,
Immense of fishy form and mind,
Squamous, omnipotent, and kind.
-Rupert Brooke, Heaven
Heaven would not be heaven if we knew what it were.
-Sir John Suckling
"In Heaven, everything is fine."
-The Radiator Lady, Eraserhead (1978)
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chapter 17
Lucy left the show an hour before its posted closing time. As far as she was
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