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Gilbert was awake, There was a full moon outside although he couldn’t see it from where he was ,,, he would though, soon enough. There was an owl hunting outside – he had heard it in the few minutes he had been lying there. His prickly heat was driving him crazy and his bladder was full. He was trying to put off the inevitable. Beccy was fast asleep beside him – peacefully for once. She must be between hot flushes. The owl screeched again and his ears pricked. Behind the owl there was another noise … one he couldn’t place. One that didn’t belong. An engine? And close by, too.
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Gilbert was standing and pissing. The owl was perched on the power line just outside the bathroom window. He could see the tanks on the roof cast into shadow on the white walls of the house next door. He could see the owl in silhouette. There was a hunter in the valley too though what he was hunting was beyond Gilbert. Locals followed no obvious logic when it came to firearms. Suddenly Gilbert became aware that the engine noise had stopped. He craned his neck and strained his ears. He was looking through the bathroom window his piss over and he thought he saw something moving … not the owl … something else … and he thought he perceived a black form gliding down the track toward him.
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Rubbing his eyes and shaking his dick Gilbert did the classic double take … a hummer? … here? … what the fuck? Black? No lights – that was surely so! It stopped outside the house next door but though he stood there for another 5 minutes he saw nothing else. He stumbled back to bed not quite believing his own senses. Two minutes later he was asleep again. Three minutes later he was snoring. Beccy nudged him to turn over and he did.
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Gilbert stirred. It was hot and he was sweating. His hair was wet. HIs mouth was dry from snoring. He opened his eyes and stared through the mosquito net but could not see the clock. It was dark, very dark. He was stuck to the sheets. He strained his ears. Was there noise coming from next door? He turned to face the wall but noted three dull distant sounds for future reference.
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Pulling his gown around him and tucking the belt in tightly Gilbert opened the front shutters to quiet the dogs. Something glinted in his peripheral vision and he looked left. The owl was on the wing. Hunting, he thought – but no. The moon shone brightly down on what was unmistakably a Hummer reversing up the lane. The lights were off and the windows were tinted. He could discern nothing more and then it disappeared behind olive trees though he could hear still the heavy engine turning slowly and the distinctive whine of a reversing vehicle. A dust cloud marked its passing. The dogs now quietened, he closed the shutters and stumbled back under the mosquito net looking for more sleep.
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