The Magpie by Ryan Licata
Market day was the best time to be at it. His victims were fellows with twirling canes and straw hats, beside dames with parasols, strolling about, haggling for rugs, munching from a bag of the Chinaman’s persimmons. He’d bide his time in the narrow streets, to where they were carried beneath him by the push of the crowd. Then, on the hour, as the church bells rang, the inexplicable would occur: a choreographed dance of dandies removing their watches from their pockets. And that’s when he struck, with the quick rip of fabric, the flutter of wings, up, and away.
Notes:
When I first read this story I didn’t know what a Magpie was, but I immediately had to think about a strange looking fellow, dressed in black with big wings on his back. Then I looked the word up in the dictionary, and it all made sense…
I ? Ryan Licata
Vedendo l illustrazione mi era venuta una battuta sul Berlusca ,ma poi ho trovato di cattivo gusto farla qui’
però adesso sono curioso… che battuta era?