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only very sparingly, parsimoniously carnal. I have never, ever, seen a person as thin; not even the anorexic girl with her stick figure legs and lumpy knees who was a high school classmate looked so emaciated. How was it possible for a person so thin to remain upright, to wait for a bus, to walk among other city dwellers in the dust and bustle of the streets?
Even though the late autumn day was almost summerly, he was dressed very warmly, wrapping his emaciated frame in a thick overcoat. He may have tried -- altogether in vain -- to hide his horrifying thinness. His clothing just made him stand out more. The kind of coat he wore no one had worn anywhere for three or four decades. It was a long herringbone tweed coat with a small collar and big buttons. I can’t swear to it, but I think the buttons were covered with the same cloth. The coat was tailored with a belt of the same material drawn tight. Come to think of it, his coat was very similar to one I wore as a schoolgirl. Strangely enough I started imagining, later on, that he had somehow found and appropriated my ancient discarded coat.
This person was not waiting for a bus calmly, rooted to the spot -- if indeed he was waiting for a bus: he strode back and forth on the sidewalk, wending his way among people. His restlessness also attracted attention -- or it did mine, at least.
I should also mention that I am not at all sure about his gender. I didn’t see him as a male, but not as a female either.
Furthermore, I must confess that I am not even convinced that he belonged to our species instead of one remotely resembling ours.
And I still haven’t described the feature that was definitely the most striking: the lower part of his narrow face was covered with a scarf or piece of fabric. His mouth could not be seen. But as soon as one glanced at him, the scarf did not prevent one from realizing with a start: that person does not have a |
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