a scattering of mourners had gathered
\nin the foregarden of the Villa del Toro
\nmagnificant summer home of Teodado
\n(Gerolamo de Magnificado de Veniccio)
\nwho had, tragically, died that morning
\nsome said of an ulcer, others of worry
\nstill others, of a strategic dose of strichnine
\na gift from his jealous mistress Granada
\nor perhaps his devoted wife Penelopia.
\nall were agreed it was a tragedy simply
\na tragedy that he had died before the
\nend of the month when he would have
\npaid his bills but now everything was a mess.<\/p>\n
one who would be paid was now approaching
\nthe back gate of the villa and entered by the
\nservants’ entrance just as dusk was falling<\/p>\n
this one was clad in indistinct garments of
\nno colour nor discernible shape nor could one
\nclearly see this one’s face or hands or any part<\/p>\n
the indistinct figure was directed by gestures
\nto the large empty room empty save for the
\ncorpse of the recently deceased Teodado
\nwho was laid out naked under a white muslin sheet
\non the only furniture in the room: a large cyprus table
\nthe siesta shutters on the windows of the room were closed<\/p>\n
at his head and foot
\nsingle tallow candles
\nguttered dimly
\non his chest were
\na loaf of fresh bread and
\na large bag of salt and
\non each eye was placed
\na large copper coin<\/p>\n
The sun had fully set when the figure
\napproached the shrouded corpse
\nand stopped a step away
\nsomeone closed the only door to the room<\/p>\n
the figure was alone with the corpse
\nof the greatest merchant in all of Italy
\nthe slim hand reached out and hovered
\nabove the still waxen face and held there
\nall night while the candles burned down
\nand sputttered out<\/p>\n
some said they heard screams that night
\nover the Villa del Toro
\nothers said they were the shrieks
\nof the haunted from hell
\none thought he clearly recognized
\nthe sobs of his poor dead sister
\nwho had disappeared one night
\nwhile delivering pears to the villa
\nanother the lament of his dead father
\nwho had died impoverished
\nhis family in distress after a business deal
\nwith the great merchant went wrong
\nothers swore they saw dead climbing
\nout of graves and walking the streets
\nhorribly disfigured and decayed
\ntowards dawn there was a great flurry of wings
\nand unprecedented numbers of bats flew
\nover the villa and fell dead from the sky
\nsmothering the back garden in bat corpses
\nhorribly mutilated some said by the fall
\nothers claimed every bat that fell from the sky
\nwas scorched bleeding totally stripped of skin<\/p>\n
then as if it had been a bad dream
\nall evidence of disaster disappeared
\ncoincidentally with the departure
\nof the nondescript figure who took
\nthe bread the salt and the two coins<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
a scattering of mourners had gathered in the foregarden of the Villa del Toro magnificant summer home of Teodado (Gerolamo de Magnificado de Veniccio) who had, tragically, died that morning some said of an ulcer, others of worry still others, … Continue reading