Lunch time was over, and I was waiting at the red light for the usual traffic shuffle on my way back to work. In the lane to my left, a gentleman in a faded black 1940’s truck was doing the same. Heavy traffic in our direction meant we were both stuck in place as the light cycled from red to green.
Traffic coming from work was not as heavily impacted, and a few vehicles made it across the intersection before being locked into place with the stoplights at the intersection behind me. Both the gentleman and I idly looked over at the flatbed truck now open to our inspection. I remained calm looking over the old wood boards being carried away. The gentleman became alarmed.
“Excuse me!” He waved at the driver of the flatbed. “Where did you get those boards from?”
“Eh? Five dollars a board and not a penny less even if you buy the whole load! Gotta make gas money!”
“What? No! I know where those boards came from, and you have to take them back right away!”
“I salvaged them! Free and clear! Well, free to me anyway!” The old white man driving the flatbed saw the traffic was not going to clear up soon, so he slid out of the drivers seat and scrambled onto the bed of the truck. He kicked a board and old flaking paint shattered off it. “Gonna sell these to some ar-teests!” He spit on the boards. “They’ll pay twenty a board for that old rustic look!” He laughs derisively.
The not as old white gentleman paled in alarm. “No, you can’t take those boards another inch further. I know where you stole them from. Those boards are all infected with termites from within and a virulent wood mold from without. You took those from the coal yard for the [unintelligible] furnace! Fire is the only way to deal with both pests safely and even the state said for them to be burned! The mold is contained to this area, but if you take those boards out, you’ll be spreading the mold to clean areas!”
“Those fucking kids don’t know and don’t fucking care where I got the boards from or why they’re getting them so cheap! What are you going to do? Take each board back? Fight me, old man! I’ll throw you in the furnace, instead!”
The light had cycled several times, but no vehicles were moving in either direction. I heard sirens down the street, and had recieved a text from a fellow coworker that the jobsite was on lockdown because of stolen goods. I texted her back that the goods were on the truck at the intersection I was at and where I was at, and to have the authorities hurry before the traffic unlocks and the truck drives away.
“Hey, mister. Cops on the way, but you gotta stall the guy somehow.” The kinder gentleman cocked his head towards me and nodded slightly to show me he heard my words.
He opened the door to his truck. “If I gotta take them off one by one, I will! You didn’t see what those boards came off of. The house is gone and only one part of a wall remained. And that mold is toxic to humans in large enough quantities. If I gotta kick your ass to kingdom come to protect everyone else, well then, I guess I’ll do just that.” He took off his denim jacket to reveal a very muscular torso and arms. I was no longer worried about his wellbeing.
The thief lost much of his bravado and started to scramble back to the open door of his truck. “If this is about the profit, I’ll share! We don’t need to get all physical about anything!” The burly gentleman beat him to the door and he fell back as the door was harshly slammed.
“HOLD! Identify yourselves!” Battlemages stepped forward with a crowd controlling spell ready to throw. Wait… Battlemages?
“Ah. Weaver Ravenwinged. It has been a while, hasn’t it. Glad to see you still look out for your fellow men.” The Envoy peeked in from the passenger side window of my car. “A summary, please?”
“Oh. Hi. Envoy. Long time no piss off. Mr. Kindly Buff is the guy who put the boards in the coal yard to begin with. Mr. Shifty is the thief who took them. As far as I know, the boards have not come any further than this spot.”
The Envoy nodded and gestured to the mundane police force accompanying him. They took the thief into custody while the battlemages began isolating the wood and the truck from the environment.
Traffic flowed around our three vehicles as the workers of the City did their duties. The Envoy was refusing to allow me to leave the intersection and continue on with my dream. Probably because he knew the first thing I would do is depart the dream entirely.
“You’ve been busy, Weaver.”
“I have, Sir.”
“And unreachable.”
“I’m human, Envoy. You always have a means of pulling my thread.”
“But you don’t always answer, Weaver.”
I shrugged. “I may be a citizen of the City, but I’m not bound to her. You fucking know that. Now what the hell do you want with me, this time?”
He feigned offense. His smirk was calculated to make me relax into cordial friendship. When I did not respond as a friend, he resumed his stoic demeanor. “Still untrusting of me. I understand.” He handed me a folded slip of paper. “All you have to do, is make an appearance.”
I looked at the slip. Written in no language I have ever consciously seen was an address I unconsciously understood. “This is a botanica. The address keeps shifting. One is an American address, the other is… I can’t make out the country, but it feels like it’s in postcolonial Latin America.”
He nodded. “Go to the American address. You’ll be taken to the [unintelligible] location. All I request of you, is that you appear. Once you arrive, you may leave immediately without speaking to or interacting with anyone.”
I did not verbally agree to the request, but I tucked the paper into a pocket just the same. “You’re up to some shit, Envoy.”
“I am up to the care and protection of the City, Weaver. And I will do everything within my abilities to fulfill my duty. And you fucking know that.”
Hearing him use my inflection and voice to say the latter five words amused me. He could appear as me at anytime, at anyplace. But that is all he can do to mimic me. “Fine. Get the fuck out of my way. You’re holding up traffic and being a general nuisance.”
He bowed and smiled with an almost believable smirk. Once he lifted his hands off the car, it transformed into the sleek black diplomatic sedan he had given me. To my left, the flatbed truck and all its contents had been set on fire with a magically fueled flame. The thief, sitting handcuffed in the back of a police car, cried to watch his possessions burn while the kindly gentleman grimly supervised the purification.
Driving to the botanica was quickly accomplished without incident. Having a flying car that is invisible to any mundane dreamer helps. I stepped out into the Southern California heat that some folks call “sunshine” and opened the door to the botanica. I kept my manners as I nodded a greeting to the squat statue under the table by the door. I heard a gasp as the proprietor looked up to see me…
The quality of light changed and I blinked at the discomfort of it.
The air was clearer and carried a great number of scents. The background noise jumped in volume and cacophony as an outside market was packed with vendors and shoppers. Instead of holding the doorknob of a iron-reinforced door, I was holding back a long cloth hung over the doorless entryway.
My manner of dress had changed along with my location. What I was wearing was something I would choose, however, this was not the place I would choose to wear it. “¡La Cuerva!” It was a new name to my ears but it felt comfortably old. I nodded to disguise my confusion. The speaker glanced at a decoration on the wall before nervously glancing back at me. As I approached the decoration, it welcomed me as if a ghost was welcoming her reincarnation.
Who’s to say that wasn’t what was happening now.
(Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve sat on my grave.)
I had so many questions, but the Envoy said all I had to do was make an appearance and then I could leave. He’s betting on mystery to accomplish his goal. I’d best not make a mess of his plans… right away.
I noticed a feature on the decoration was crooked by either neglect or inattention. I straightened it and felt ghostly hands touching that same feature on my body. I could not help but smirk at the sensation. The expression was seen by all in the botanica. A few folks crossed themselves in reflex.
“Perdoname. Yo estaba perdido, pero me he encontrado. Vaya con Dios, y los santos. Buen día a ti.” I clasped my hands and nodded as I smiled my farewell.
The few folks in the shop muttered a “Y tú también.”, as I quickly left the shop. The long dark crimson cloth had barely settled behind me before I heard them exclaiming in loud whispers about “La Cuerva” having come in the flesh.
Entering the plaza rendered me invisible to the mundane shoppers around me. Across the plaza was a great Roman Catholic cathedral. Between us, the ground could not be seen for all the tents, stuffs, and people crowding the space. I recognized some of the features, and narrowed down the area in Latin America that this corner of the City was based on to just a few countries.
But countries are still great spaces in their own right, and what turned left on one coast could easily turn right on the other. The Envoy’s errand did settle one thing for me, but opened up a dozen questions in return.
I see I’m going to have to talk to a dog about a raven, very, very soon.
I transformed myself into such a giant raven, and flew up into the ocean-blue sky, departing the dream.