Chapter 4
The cottage. Two bedrooms and one bath. Running water. Electricity. A narrow stairwell leading into the ground; the place where he develops film, his darkroom. So hot in the summertime. Hell on Earth. Humid and stifling. The rooms are almost unbearable during August, another reason why he prefers to be naked. An undersized patio in the rear of the cottage is screened-in, keeping away the mosquitoes from his bare skin, predators of his blood. A miniscule kitchen where he cooks rainbow trout or musky from the lake, stewed rabbit over pieces of cheese or chunks of bread, rare steak over licking flames. The king of his unseen fortress. His bastion in the woods.
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The City Man. Outside again. Looking for him. Wanting inside. Carrying seven Styrofoam cups in his arms. A gift t
