The Moondust Sonatas Read online

  The Moondust Sonatas

  MOVEMENT NO 1: A HUNTER’S MOON

  ALAN OSI

  SMOKE & SHADOW BOOKS

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, businesses, corporations, and incidents in this work are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 Alan Osi

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected].

  Smoke & Shadow Books

  Cleveland Writers Press Inc.

  31501 Roberta Dr.

  Bay Village, OH 44140

  www.clevelandwriterspress.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1-943052-02-8

  eBook ISBN-13: 978-1-943052-05-9

  First Edition: December 2015

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Smoke & Shadow Books is an imprint and trademark of Cleveland Writers Press Inc.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher. Library of Congress

  Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the publisher.

  Cover Design by Monkey C Media

  Cover Photo by Peeter Viisimaa

  Edited by Tim Staveteig; www.myliterarycoach.com

  To fiction itself, the dream-eater.

  CONTENTS

  MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2006

  1.WILLIAM

  2.CLYDE

  3.YVONETTE

  4.WILLIAM

  THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2006

  5.JUSTINE

  FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2006

  6.MAXWELL

  7.HAROLD

  8.MAXWELL

  9.JUSTINE

  10.MAXWELL

  11.WILLIAM

  12.ROB

  13.CLYDE

  14.ROB

  15.WILLIAM

  16.ROB

  17.CLYDE

  18.PERCIVAL

  19.MAXWELL

  20.JUSTINE

  21.MAXWELL

  22.YVONETTE

  23.WALLY

  24.MAXWELL

  25.YVONETTE

  26.MAXWELL

  27.JUSTINE

  SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2006

  28.YVONETTE

  29.PERCIVAL

  30.MAXWELL

  31.PERCIVAL

  32.WINSTON

  33.PERCIVAL

  34.MAXWELL

  35.PERCIVAL

  36.MAXWELL

  37.PERCIVAL

  38.HAILEY

  39.MAXWELL

  40.PERCIVAL

  41.MAXWELL

  42.JUSTINE

  43.HAILEY

  44.WILLIAM

  45.PERCIVAL

  46.MAXWELL

  47.PERCIVAL

  48.MAXWELL

  SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2006

  49.PETER

  50.CHESTER

  51.MAXWELL

  52.WINSTON

  53.MARK

  54.HAILEY

  55.JUSTINE

  56.MAXWELL

  57.JUSTINE

  58.WILLIAM

  59.SALLY

  60.VIOLET

  61.ROB

  62.WILLIAM

  63.CLYDE

  64.MAXWELL

  65.CLYDE

  66.WALLY

  67.MAXWELL

  68.PERCIVAL

  MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2006

  69.YVONETTE

  70.PETER

  71.CHESTER

  72.BARRY

  73.CLYDE

  74.HAILEY

  75.MAXWELL

  76.NAOMI

  77.HAILEY

  TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2006

  78.GREGORY

  79.WINSTON

  80.HAROLD

  THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2006

  81.PETER

  82.CHESTER

  83.HAROLD

  84.MAXWELL

  85.HAILEY

  86.MAXWELL

  87.HAILEY

  88.MAXWELL

  89.PERCIVAL

  90.WALLY

  91.HAILEY

  92.MARK

  FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2006

  93.MAXWELL

  94.LEONARD

  95.MAXWELL

  96.LEONARD

  97.ANNIE

  98.STEVEN

  99.SIENNA

  100.ROB

  101.YVONETTE

  SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2006

  102.JUSTINE

  103.PETER

  104.MAXWELL

  105.LEONARD

  106.HAROLD

  SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2006

  107.PERCIVAL

  108.JUNE

  109.HAILEY

  110.LEONARD

  111.PERCIVAL

  112.MAXWELL

  113.MARK

  114.ANNIE

  115.WINSTON

  116.YVONETTE

  117.ELBA

  118.HAILEY

  119.PERCIVAL

  120.JUNE

  121.HAILEY

  122.MAXWELL

  123.ANNIE

  124.LEONARD

  125.PERCIVAL

  126.YVONETTE

  127.WALLY

  128.PERCIVAL

  129.MAXWELL

  130.LEONARD

  131.HAILEY

  132.JUNE

  133.HAILEY

  134.LEONARD

  135.PERCIVAL

  136.HAILEY

  137.MARK

  138.HAILEY

  139.LEONARD

  140.SHELLY

  141.YVONETTE

  142.PERCIVAL

  143.WILLIAM

  144.SHELLY

  145.HAILEY

  146.PERCIVAL

  147.I AM…

  MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2006

  148.YVONETTE

  149.WILLIAM

  150.LEONARD

  151.SHELLY

  SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2006

  152.PERCIVAL

  153.JUNE

  154.PERCIVAL

  Monday, September 25, 2006

  1. LEONARD

  Okay, listen. I was underground, right? In New York, where I lived. This girl from my building named Vonnie rode the subway with me, screaming metal and blinking lights flowed outside plastic windows. Each block was its own universe, galaxies flew by like graffiti stars.

  When our station finally roared in, the doors pinged open, and we went up: out of the dark, humid underground into the city swirling colors. We went to get moondust from this kid named Clyde.

  He lived in SoHo somehow, in a second story apartment. The sun still shone. But, time was flying. I was 26 and aimlessly flowing around town. I hustled for the cash I needed, I did anything and everything, but mostly stayed small time: scrapping, small scams, grabbing stuff, selling stuff—things like that. The money sucked, though.

  I’d never tried moondust before. It was something new, and new drugs could be real bad. But, I’d known Clyde for years. We ran together, and you can only really know someone when you hustle. So I figured moondust was safe ‘cause he wouldn’t give me anything heavy. And I figured it was good shit because I texted him, but didn’t hear from the dude in three weeks; when he finally got up with me, this morning, he sounded different, and all he’d say was, “You have to try this shit.” So I called up Vonnie and told her we were going for a ride. She asked to which stop, I answered the one in her cerebellum. I sai
d get ready and hung up, and got her, and we rode metal underground.

  Now, on the streets again, kicking our toes at the sky, Vonnie kept bugging me because she wanted to know what to expect.

  “What’s this called again?”

  “The name ain’t gonna change no matter how many times you ask.”

  We got to his house, rang the buzzer, and clicked up the stairs. When I knocked on the door, it opened, because it was dead bolted ajar. Inside Clyde sat on his couch in boxers and a wife beater, holding a vial of gray powder, with his eyes closed and banging around under the lids. But, he was grinning and crying, and his hand kept going up, moving like he tried to feel something.

  We watched him do that for a while, not speaking. Wasn’t any need to talk, seeing what we saw.

  I swear my pupils dilated out of sheer expectation.

  Eventually, his eyes slowed. He breathed suddenly, real deep, and opened his eyes. He dried some tears, then looked up at Vonnie and me.

  And all he said was, “You guys got to try this shit.”

  2. CLYDE

  I saw God.

  God is alien to us, completely. Not at all like they say. They always said God made us in His image, I always pictured Him something like us. God is nothing like us, more like a living sun. But, also so far beyond that. We can’t imagine, we can’t get anywhere close.

  I saw the truth. That’s what this drug did, and you can’t tell me different. Ain’t no language for the feeling. Best high ever.

  The first time I took moondust, I was up on Bedford, at some rooftop party. All these arty kids lived in the building. Anyway, I stood by the ledge checking out the scene and spotted some kids nearby doing what I thought was coke. My product was pure, I was looking to expand my business, and these fools had enough money to pay whatever I asked. Once I realized that I could get top dollar from rich hipsters, I never went back. So I walked over to them, and I pulled out my bag, and I said, “Hey.”

  “What?” One of them said, with the hard edge of someone who’d just been interrupted doing drugs.

  “Can I join? First lines are free, and my shit is bomb.”

  I’m bold so I did this kind of thing, even though it wasn’t really done. You didn’t roll up on people in the city. But, I wasn’t much for following rules, none of these kids were thugs, and I was a hell of a salesman.

  First step: Set their minds at ease, make them feel in control. But, these kids’ eyes had none of the fear or distrust I expected.

  “You got the bomb, huh?” One dude said, mocking. “You think we need you?”

  I answered, “I’ll put a hundred on mine being better than whatever you got.”

  They all laughed. That never happened before.

  “I’ll take that bet,” another said.

  So I opened my bag to start cutting small lines. But, the guy who’d spoken last, a black kid with a neck tattoo, held up his hand saying, “Wait. We aren’t looking to do coke, I just want your money. So you’re going to try mine, and then you’re going to give me a hundred dollars.”

  That threw me off. “Coke?”

  “No. Moondust.”

  “What the hell is moondust?”

  “You’ve never heard of it. But, it’s safe. You’ll have some and pay me for the privilege, because we made a bet. Right?”

  I nodded. He took out his baggie, and said, “Sit down and hold one eye open.” And when I did, he dropped powder into my eyes, and my back arched, and I disconnected from my body.

  Another world, made of solid light.

  When I came out of it, I gave him a hundred dollars and three hundred more for a good amount of moondust. He wouldn’t give me his phone-number or name.

  Before moondust, I never thought much about religion one way or another. This, however, was G-O-D. But, I didn’t want to philosophize, I just wanted to go back. Only there was no going back. When I took moondust again, I went somewhere else, into another person’s life: a beggar in Madras.

  The third time I took it, I saw the world through the eyes of a Scotsman.

  After that, I was a farmer in some hot, sun-dark nation. Next, a shopkeeper in Asia. After that, a homemaker.

  I never felt anything like it. Not quite a high, just a wild, fully realized experience. Like, absolutely, 100 percent realistic, I was truly inside other people. But, I couldn’t control nothing, I was along for the ride.

  So when my boy William called me up, yammering about how I’d been MIA for weeks, I told him to come here, because we had business to attend. The guy who gave it to me was right, his stuff was better than mine. I planned on fixing that.

  3. YVONETTE

  My name is Vonnie and

  I’m an actress and I

  Tried moondust ‘cause this guy I knew, William,

  He called my house and then came to my door. I was asleep when the phone rang,

  And he didn’t notice.

  He said we were going on an adventure and

  I like adventure so I agreed

  And we went into Manhattan.

  SoHo is so electric. I was wearing:

  Rainbow colored wool gloves, a light white jacket over a red blouse, a green un-slit denim miniskirt, black tights, and black

  Pumas with red trim.

  William, wearing a yellow T-shirt, old jeans, and filthy sneakers.

  Took me to this guy’s apartment, Clyde. Near Broadway. I don’t remember which street. But, it was a real dirty apartment.

  I would have told this Clyde guy so,

  But when we arrived he was so-o f’ed up!

  We just stood there, watching him for a while,

  He was talking to himself and making noises like an animal.

  Then he came out of it.

  “You gotta try this stuff” is what he said then.

  Do you want to know about me?

  My name is Yvonette. It’s a silly name.

  I tell people that my friends call me Vonnie.

  Viola! Instant friends.

  Not that I need them, but I like it when people are kind to each other.

  I’m a dancer and actress, but I’ve never gotten paid to act or dance and

  I really wait tables and

  I stopped auditioning.

  Just-can’t-do-it-right-now.

  I didn’t like my parents.

  They were uptight.

  Okay people, but horrible parents, maybe. I didn’t worry about it too much.

  Except—and this was important—

  I always thought, “Fuck God.”

  Because most of the reason they were bad parents was their heads were up Jesus’ ass all day.

  They treated me so badly, kept me prisoner,

  Because, “I ignored the Lord’s will.” Told to me by whom?

  Them? And how did they know?

  And why did the Lord care so much if my room was clean?

  I ran away from home. When they found me, they dragged me home, and things were worse.

  I just waited until I was 18, too old to be stopped, and left for good.

  “Fuck God” was what I’d think if you asked me if I believed.

  I’d say something more polite,

  But not really. And I’d do it with relish.

  I was so over it. Because God wasn’t even real. The thing that fucked my childhood up was my parents’ imaginary friend.

  I believed that until this guy Clyde shoved powder into my eye.

  Afterward, all I could say was, “No way” and leave. I just knew I’d never do moondust again.

  4. WILLIAM

  It went like this: we sat down on the couch, and he smiled like the serpent. “Ladies first,” he said. Then he started talking to Vonnie, softy, to reassure her.

  “Open your eye. Hold it open. Yeah, like that. Okay, don’t blink now.”

  He dropped some powder into her eye. Her eyes closed.

  Her mouth opened.

  She gasped, writhed, and tears came down her face. Her expression read somewhere b
etween ecstasy, horror, and fury.

  “Whoa,” I said. “Where is she?”

  “Oh man, she’s in Heaven,” Clyde said.

  I didn’t take him seriously. Meanwhile, her face kept flowing between joy and rage.

  “So, what’ve you been up to?” I asked, to make conversation.

  “Pretty much, this,” Clyde answered.

  “What’s it like?”

  “So far, it’s different every time.”

  “Oh.”

  We watched Vonnie in silence, for about three more minutes, until she came out of it. When she did, she went insane. Like, horns sprouted from her head. She started swearing and throwing things across the room. Whatever she could grab: a pen, a plastic cup, a bag of potato chips, a dirty plate. Clyde didn’t do nothing, he just stood there. He let her tire herself out. When she did, she started yelling.

  “What the fuck was that? You asshole, you couldn’t have warned me?”

  Clyde asked, “What could I have said?”

  “Fuck you. This is bullshit.”

  She grabbed her purse, stormed out, and slammed the door.

  In the silence she left, Clyde and I looked at each other. Through the walls, we heard the click of her heels stop, and the sound of Vonnie retching somewhere in the hallway. We studied the door, imagining.

  “What’s in this shit?” I said, impressed.

  “I… actually don’t know. But, it’s safe though.”

  “If you don’t know what’s in it, what makes you sure it’s safe?”

  “Trust me.”

  “Okay.”

  I took a deep breath, and I put my hands to my eye and held back the lids. The lids fought me for control, trying to close. Clyde stood above me and moved gigantic, fuzzy zeppelin fingers right above my eyeball.

  Some dust fell into my eye, and it stung like hell. But, only for a split second.

  Then I couldn’t feel anymore.

  I went down a tunnel, but my body stayed behind.

  All of my body’s sensations, like my heart, my pulse, and my skin, felt so far away I quickly forgot them. I was only spirit or soul or energy. Our physical realm was out there, somewhere, but it meant jack to me.

  Listen, no way you can imagine that unless you’ve experienced it.

  My soul swam in light. In joy.

  Not that the word joy cuts it. That word is tied to worldly pleasure or happiness, both of which are thin, flimsy tricks, mockeries of what’s up there.

  Afterward, you can’t even remember, not really. It’s impossible for your brain to recall a place so far beyond you, something far too big for your mind to hold. You’d felt things you couldn’t dream.