The Woman in the Tree

A rainbow arches over her. She doesn’t give a damn. A dog looks up. Go fuck yourself, she shouts. All she wants to do is lie in the river—— and with the cold water flowing over her body think how lonely he must be: a man walking into the ruined streets of a city abandoned centuries back, dragging behind him on a rusted chain a creature related perhaps to a wolf, but fiercer. Infinitely fierce.