The Geographer's Library

Thus wilt thou possess the glory of
the brightness of the whole world,
and all obscurity will fly
far from thee.
Imade a few abortive attempts at conversation on the drive from Hannah’s
place to mine. Hannah responded monosyllabically and stared
out the window. I tried to be blithe, but in fact I was queasily curious,
about both Hannah and whether we would find another body part nailed to
my door. I thought about insisting that we stay at her place, but I didn’t know
how to do that politely. I also considered telling Hannah about the symbol on
her doorframe, but she seemed in no mood to talk. I figured if something
needed explaining, I would improvise, and if something or someone threatened
us ...well, I guess I would try not to run. Those under-thirty advice
columnists, the latest crop of pop-culture mushrooms in the “lifestyle” sections
of newspapers, tell you how to meet your in-laws, how to reconcile religious
differences with a spouse, and how to confront your paranoid girlfriend
who’s been checking your e-mail. None of them, to my knowledge, has written
about what to do when you find a human tooth and an occult symbol on
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