“Whatcha got there, baby? Is so tiny.” She rasped and coughed through dried saliva crusted lips puckering in and out from an oval mahogany hole.
“It’s a little Jesus, but his left arm broke off, see? He kinda looks like a gun.” I responded looking at the damaged Son, offering her a peek.
“Oh, how that happen, baby?” She said licking her wide mouth and wiping the sour spit from the black corners.
“I’m not sure, maam. But I’ve had this Jesus for many years and He kinda never gets lost.” I answered gripping the tiny maimed Savior from His remaining arm while aiming it listlessly at a pigeon flopping in the rancid gutter water beneath our feet.
I turned to look at my companion as she swooshed some bottles around a grimy old Vons plastic bag. The rude lilac and blue back drop lighting from the 99₵ Store illuminated her matted gray hair and her red sweat suit varnished hard with the filth of the streets.
It was around 11:47 p.m. on a Wednesday that I found myself sitting on a graffitied bus bench in Hollywood. The street was dense with foreign cars, bleak in their ashy paint and dime sized nicks and dings. In the midst of the piss scented early spring drifts of night air she told me her name was Martha. I offered my hand and Martha declined politely by turning her face to the west. I looked at my hand, maybe it was dirty, but I couldn’t see much.
words less spoken 
Brilliant writing. You never cease to amaze me with your creativity. I feel your piece can be interpreted in various ways depending on one’s beliefs. Thank you for joining the challenge! 😊
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Thank you so much. Yes it can be. It was an actual encounter and I learned much from it. Mostly that at the end of it all no matter where we are in life we all have our beliefs and biases.
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Reblogged this on BrewNSpew and commented:
Sharing post from my friend in LA in response to the weekly prompt.
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Thank you Eugenia xo🙂
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My God I can’t believe it beautiful, gritty writing with punctuation. Can something be beautiful and gritty?
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Lol of course life is beautiful !!! Thanks for reading and visiting friend ❤✌
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This is powerful, raw, with the ugly, smelly parts of life where the most beautiful things are borne! And through all that is was so very heartfelt leaving one with the desire to seek the “inner interpretation” that speaks to the place one is at in their sojourn! Wonderfully written! 😀 ❤
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Thank you so much friend! It’s one of my very few favorites ❤✌
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