The Black Bird

It's a quarter to eight, I'm just leaning on the half-wall, half-grid fence of a build in a small and dark street, havin a cigarrete. The cold and damp breeze just swallowing the thin breath of the warming smoke. Almost invisible, insensitive to the skin, drops of rain falling through the yellow light of a lampost. On the other tip of the fence, a black bird stands like it's sleeping, with it's very closed eyes, it's head turned back over a little twisted wing, it's body completely sokead in water. Poor guy, must have had a fight with a cat or something...

Suddenly I heard some steps inside the buildig, the fence door opened with a little crack and an annoying whistle started to skirl. A bald white man came off and closed the door, stoping the whistle. He took some key from a pocket in his coat and started in my direction.

- "Good night" - he muttered.

- "...night" - I said, having another drag of smoke.

Then he just passed me, getting into a car that was parked nearby the fence, right beside the bird. I didn't wanted to stare at his direction, trying to not be impolite, so I looked to the other side and started to observer the details of an old tree whiches branches enframe the entrance of the street. "It's a very beautiful tree..." I thought while the car had gone in its direction, stopped for a moment just below the frame and then proceeded its way as I watched. ...

Another gust of bitter fume filled the air in front of my face, straight from my nostrils, revealing more drops of water to the vision. I looked back to the bird... it was awaken now, and staring at me. I stared back for a moment and then turned even more my neck to see through the grid-fence behind me a little garden where a cat could be hidden. I turnned completely to watch when I had a glance of a woman closing the window curtains behind the yard. 'Damn, I hope she's not thinking I was spying on her'. The rain was getting thick. I spotted the place where the bird was landed once more, it was not there anymore. I walked over the place where the car was parked, took a last drag and dropped the fag end in the drain beside the curb. I entered the door, making the same annoying noise, walked over the courtyard and climbed the three steps to the building iron gate... When I entered my apartment, I went to the bathroom, closed the door and in front of the sink I looked at my face in the mirror... It was raining even stronger, my eyes looked so tired, I just wanted to find that cat...