SOMEBODY ELSE

How well do we recognize the ones we love? Could we be fooled?

 

 

She was not my wife. She looked exactly like her, spoke her voice, walked the walk, but she was somebody else.

 

“What’s wrong, Baby? Why are you staring at me like that?”

 

What could I say? Days now something’s not right? Your deep blue eyes washed out like shallow waters?

 

I could think of little else. Words of the TV news anchor fired away disjointedly. “Identity crisis.” “Aliens.” “President’s message.” Same old same old.

 

Later, in bed beside me, lay her body, a costume of flesh. In the doorway, upright on its back legs, a giant wasp was buzzing.