11:1

“That’s horrible!”

What was clinging to the outside of the poor woman’s window was a mass of flesh and fur. The dark brown bits of fur and skin were matted with semi-coagulated blood and unidentifiable bits of bone or skin or maybe insides turned out.

Despite the coolness of the season, the flies were out in force and the whole mass seemed to writhe and move. As soon as Ali’s eyes focused enough for him to catch the movement he had instinctively jerked back and only the tension on his tether prevented him from overbalancing and hurtling 3 stories down to the ground.

The noisome mess oddly enough did not smell but the visual was more than enough to give Ali’s stomach a lurch or two.

After the initial shock dissipated, Ali leaned back in. It definitely wasn’t a bird. The fur was short, soft and brown and definitely didn’t belong thirty feet off the ground. And that one bit of leathery looking skin, if Ali didn’t think it was impossible he would have sworn it was … no, it really couldn’t be.

He slid back into the apartment without touching the mess and leaned up against the window frame. “Miss, I…” Ali paused, rubbed his face vigorously and started again. “Miss. There seems to be some sort of animal smashed into your window.”

“I know,” her muffled reply was barely audible with her head down and her hands tangled in her hair.

“It seems to be, well… well if I had to guess Miss, it seems to be…”

“A beaver.”

Ali started. “Why yes, it looks an awful lot like the remains of a beaver. Did you already look?”

“No. No, but it had to be, didn’t it.”

The young woman looked up and she glanced at Ali before her eyes were drawn to the shadowed outline of the gruesome mess that clung to her window. “It had to be, didn’t it just,” she repeated.

Ah. Well then. Ali rubbed his face one more time and clasped his hands behind his neck to stretch his tense shoulders. “Um, well I guess I shall get rid of it for you then. A very odd thing that, but I shall have it gone easily enough.”

As Ali bundled up some rags and grabbed a plastic garbage bag, he thought he heard the sad looking woman mumble, but when he glanced up she was again staring down at her lap. He paused, thinking to offer some encouraging words, but then decided soonest begun, soonest done, and slid back out onto the ledge to clean.

Alone again in her apartment, Caroline dragged her red eyes up tot he revolting reminder on her living room window and and murmured, “No, it won’t be gone so easily. I will never be easy again.”