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Savage Tales

Savage Tales

Titel: Savage Tales Kostenlos Bücher Online Lesen
Autoren: Robert Crayola
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complaints.
    I was out there with silence and sand and nothing else for over a week. The fact that I had liquid and food almost made it worse. It was like floating through outer space, or on the ocean. My little oasis had been a desert island in a sea of sand, and it seemed I should never find proper land again.
    When Bill appeared, he was face down next to his camel, which was still alive. He'd probably gotten heatstroke when he ran out of water. So this is how it ended.
    I was going to bury him but decided he would be uncovered by the wind anyway, and birds could do a better job of cleaning him up and taking him away. I stripped him of his clothes to make their job easier, first cutting some meat off his legs for a meal, and then carried on. I tied Bill's camel to my own.
    It seemed I would float upon the sand forever, and if my supplies held out I would have, but I was getting low, and would have to sacrifice a camel soon. And maybe I had those haunted, dry days ahead of me once more, or maybe I would find my salvation.
    Anything could happen.

YOU BET YOUR LIFE

    At a dental office in San Luis Obispo, California, the old man was propped back with his maw ajar.
    "You look great, Steve," said Dr. Phip. "Just keep on flossing those teeth."
    "Don't talk about my looks, you homo," said Steve.
    "What?" said Dr. Phip. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of my delicate instruments and the backwash of your gurgling."
    "I said I'm running late," said Steve, who removed his bib and rose, walked to the reception area to settle the bill. "Well, what's the damage, LaRoche?"
    The woman behind the counter was not even vaguely named LaRoche. Her name was Sindo Aram.
    "One hundred five dollars," said Sindo.
    "Goddamn, my insurance has done it to me again," said Steve.
    "You said you didn't have insurance," said Sindo.
    "That's right," concurred Dr. Phip. "You said that when you arrived. Do you recall?"
    "Ah yes, you licey Asian," thought Steve.
    "Ah yes," said Steve. "I was confusing medical with dental, since they both concern the body and I hoped there might be some kind of justice in the world."
    "You have a bold sense of humor, sir," said Dr. Phip. "We'll be seeing you. Sindo, send in the next patient."
    After Steve had paid, he left the building without saying goodbye. In the parking lot he looked around, felt confused, growled miserably.
    "Someone stole my car!" he said to the air.
    He took out his cell phone, a device he had ordered from a magazine that warned him of emergencies – the odd moment when a cell phone might be required. Steve had never imagined an emergency, had never foreseen the time when he would need to call. But he did detest emergencies, and by golly, now a real doozy had arrived. He was going to call the police and report the theft of his car, but then he remembered that he had sold his car the week before to pay for his medication and force himself to get more exercise.
    "Oh," he said, putting the phone away.
    It was getting dark. Autumn was creeping in like a vapid hooker. Were he frightened of the dark and muggers he would've had fear in his heart, but it was just dark to him, and any mugger could do his worst without resistance from Steve.
    He walked a new route home. He knew this neighborhood well, having lived in the small town all his life, but he hadn't walked over here near the college in a while. It was Friday night and the parties were beginning. Already he could hear the bass thump from the younguns and their vast speaker systems that sometimes they carried with them in their cars. Why, only a week before when he had sold his vehicle to a young man of probably college age, the youngster had asked about the stereo found in Steve's car. The scant information Steve had provided (he hadn't used the stereo in years) seemed to absorb the young man more than Steve's assurances that the car was a fine and masterful vehicle that would drive you all the way to judgment day and back.
    The house Steve was passing was seemingly devoid of people. The music was belched out through doors and windows like the living exhalation of a monster. On the stairs in front of the house was an old woman. Steve stopped to look at her.
    "You don't belong here," said Steve.
    "You're telling me?" the woman said. "Do I know you?"
    "I don't think so," said Steve. "I don't know anyone. I don't even know my dentist, and I just let him inside my mouth."
    "No, I think I know you," the woman said. "I just can't remember from

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