A Cellarful of Nose - Future Shoes

church walls than people ought respectfully to be clambering, are
placards and letters and mementos of wood and clay.
"Thank you Blessed Pedro de Bathancourt for getting me
through my operation."
"In gratitude to Holy Father Pedro for his intercession..."
"I thank Blessed Father Pedro for answering my prayers, for
returning my faith to me."
Similarly, in the large daily newspapers in the city, people
take out display classified advertisements to thank Bethancourt
for this, that, the other thing.
This summer is an important one for those grateful to the
holy friar. The Church in Rome has found favor with his case, and
Bethancourt is to be officially beatified. Travel agencies are
featuring a July special: Vatican City for two for ten days:
Q1,034.
*
The war has been bad for tourism. At the airport a
government representative with a clipboard asks if there were any,
well, problems encountered during your stay in the country.
No, one says, unless one is the sort who objects to having
loaded machine guns pointed at one's nose. I see, she says,
writing that down. Was there anything else?
Think pleasanter thoughts.
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