Two frames

Aside

Based on real events.

Star

Velvet night sky borders the peeling-paint brick wall. Bulbous string lights and neon signs give scattered, uncertain illumination. The bar’s door is ajar, and its black jamb encloses the room and its glow like a minimalist painting frame. Within, a haze of warm yellow radiance fill the space, its hue so saturated, it is near palpable. An enormous shelf runs up the wall, all the way to the wooden rafters, filled with gleaming bottles of gin and whiskey. The whole place evokes saw dust and rust.

She sits on a stool nearest to the door, and so she is a shadowed recess in the mellow incandescence. Her frame is tall and narrow, square-shouldered, with a lean that is slight and unmistakable.

***

A street lamp casts its electric-white light across her face. Her lips taught, curled in a smile, clever and confident. Her eyes tightly focused and observant. She stands with her back straight – a proper posture made nonchalant by habit – shoulders at an easy slant, hands in pockets. Air is a breath of the desert, thin and clear.

Behind, a brightly lit marquee of a pizza joint looms. And beyond, the velvet night sky.