ERRAND BOY, tate owens

[attr="class","appn"]tate callum owens

[attr="class","appc"]age 26

[attr="class","appc"]group commoner

[attr="class","appc"]sex male

[attr="class","appc"]occupation errand boy

[attr="class","appp"]



+ accommodating, responsible, earnest, devoted, compassionate[break][break]

− passive, self-effacing, overanxious, timid, zealous[break][break]

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before sunday mass he airs out laundry on the balcony, changes the water for the carnations, mother's favorite, quiet stooped buds in green glass bottles. beyond the room the sky hangs low; sometimes the breeze brings cigarette smoke and newspaper ashes, sometimes the changing of fortunes. the plaster walls of the apartment block are thin: he catches raucous laughter, rustling sighs, fearful shouts in the dead of night. but the dawning of the day is always hushed, reverent. beneath his breath he whispers the psalms and watches the firmament streak red.[break][break]

one night a streetlamp explodes. the next morning his windowpane is cracked. neither's repaired.[break][break]

[break]

the apocalyptics pass under his window sometimes. they shiver, shudder, harking the end. death and destruction for all, the wayward flock. fear and despair sit on their backs and twist god into a frenzied, hateful thing. he blocks out their cries and prays for them, for the good of his neighbor, his brethren. pressed palms and rosary swinging. [break][break]

[break]

there's a body in the garden, beneath the tree. there's an angel on earth, sent with cosmic purpose and divine love. he questions not what he can't comprehend; he follows like a lamb to the altar. with the changing of seasons the carnations begin to wilt.