fuck this job.com

Simon looks at the blinds covering the window. The window is open a little, and the voice outside is shouting things that sound unreal.

"Help! Help! Ow! Help! I'm being robbed!"

Simon looks at the window and it seems as if a light is on in his apartment, but he can't tell which light is on. It's weird. His apartment is on the second floor--too close to the street for most people and so he pays lower rent. He hears the shouting. It just doesn't stop. Only one voice. Young. Male. Simon wonders if he should call the police. He looks at the alarm clock. Three twenty. He takes a step towards the window and suddenly he feels as if something is gently pushing him from behind. He is afraid but, for some odd reason, he isn't breathing hard and his heart is not pounding. In fact, he isn't breathing at all.

Wow. That is really strange. He looks down at his hands, but he finds it impossible to focus on them. He feels a push towards the window. Suddenly he just wants to...to walk through the window. Just like that. He feels this irresistible pull and a gentle push from behind. His feet seem to barely be touching the floor. He floats up. He can fly! Amazing! Who knew it was so easy! All this time, he had the ability to fly and didn't know it! Simon focuses on the window blind and as he blinks his eyes he crashes through the blinds--but not, strangely--through the window glass. He passes right through it.

His head spins as he looks down and sees nobody. Then he looks down the street and sees two dark figures. One is running away. The other is shouting at him. "Bitch! He robbed me! Thanks a lot! Thanks for nothing!" Simon flies soundlessly past the ranting young man. He hovers over the fleeing mugger (why haven't I ever discovered this flying thing before?) and sets down in front of him. The mugger's look is beyond Simon's comprehension. He looks like a cartoon caricature of fear. His eyes are literally bugging out of his head. Simon feels a little disgusted and confused. He grabs the arm of the mugger and as soon as Simon's hand touches him he begins to scream in a loud, high pitch.

The mugger's victim runs up but stops cold when he sees Simon clearly. He seems paralyzed. Simon takes the wallet from the mugger's hand and gives it back to his victim. The mugger stops screaming. Simon lets go of his hand. He stands, mute. The victim is quiet now as well. They just stare at Simon.

Simon is carried by something (a gust of wind?) down the street and into the sky. He remembers visiting Disneyland as a child and riding on the Peter Pan ride. It's just like that. He just can't believe that this flying thing was unknown to him. He feels himself pulled down to a bridge over the lake, where a girl with runny makeup is listening to headphones and staring at the water. She's standing on the rough concrete, expressionless, ready to step off and plunge into the icy lake.

Simon sets down beside her but she barely looks up. He takes he arm in his hand and pushes he down to her knees. He gently removes the headphones from her head. A voice comes out of Simon like nothing he has ever heard.

"Girl!"

She looks up at him and her eyes grow wide.

"Do you hear me?"

She nods.

"Do you renounce Satan and all his works?"

The girl is wearing a black t-shirt with a red pentagram. Some of her tattoos feature Satanic themes.

She thinks about the t-shirt.

"Do you renounce Satan and all his works?"

Simon has no idea where this is coming from.

She nods.

"DO YOU RENOUNCE SATAN AND ALL HIS WORKS?"

The girl suddenly comes alive. Her face lights up and she seems to be a different person.

"Yes! Yes I renounce Satan and all his works! Yes!"

Simon releases her arm. The strange voice continues to speak.

"Then go, and sin no more."

The girl stands up and spends a few minutes throwing jewelry into the lake. Finally, she takes off the t-shirt, wipes her eyes with it, and throws it in. Then she begins to run, and, amazingly, she's laughing. Simon barely has time to process this peculiar business when he's off again, taken by the wind.

(TO BE CONTINUED)