GROUND 0101 (The Fall Issue)

you saw something move in the shadows...
a face spying on you or a hand
motioning you to come its way. It was
that disconcerting. And there I was,
walking past it, ignoring the fact that
the Art Galleries on the ground floor
had the most peculiar collection of
works on their window displays. I got
to a park and I daren’t walk through
it. I was warned that there were Drug
dealers in there... Drug dealers and no
lights... Africans who were considerably
darker and presumably sweeter
than me; and it was alleged that sometimes
you’d get a hand come out of
nowhere, balled because there was
an 8-ball in there... a price was said,
an exchange was made and then that
hand retracted whence it came from
and you’d swear that the hand didn’t
have a body. It lived in the shadows.
Well I kept to the road, taking the first
turn I could... to try and get back on
the correct route; and as I walked
past the park’s entrance, guess what I
should see...? A girl. A girl of my age.
Standing. In the shadows. She was so
striking and without fear. She looked
scholarly. She stood in the shadows,
looking clean, seeming well-strung
together and I walked in her direction
and she didn’t flinch. She didn’t
cower. My presence didn’t put her on
edge. In fact, it was me who felt ill at
ease. Although she obviously wasn’t a
drug dealer, I was very aware of her.
She also didn’t seem to be soliciting.
I wanted to know what she was doing
there. Anything can lurk in there.
Forget the drug dealers; they wouldn’t
shit where they lived. Anything can be
hidden there.
As I walked past her, on wretched
edge, I realised that I should correct
that thought. She was the anything.
And such was Berlin. Women seemed
so empowered. They seemed to be
saying...
‘I’m the one you should be afraid of.’
Or ‘you’d best watch your step when
I’m in the vicinity.’
For instance, there was something
precious and predatory about the way
she lurked. Brutish and elegant, maybe.
Almost as if the thing, the creature
which might be hidden in the shadows
was remaining hidden because of
her. Such was the power she held and
such was the character I wished for
my characters to have. That sense that
while they’re in the world, the Devil was
staying away. They’re all the dread the
world needs.
Does this sound awful? I hope it
doesn’t. It’s not meant to be dreadful
or provocative.
Let me do something to disarm you.
Let me demonstrate how humane I am.
Let me tell you something that I wasn’t
going to tell a living soul. It wasn’t my
proudest moment. It showed me for
the coward I can be. Don’t you worry
mother of mine... mother of mine reading
this, the prostitutes don’t feature in
this part.
So on the last day, with 4 hours left before
I had to be at the airport... on a
cloudy Wednesday afternoon, I decided
to visit 2 castles.
My friend circled their locations on the
map.
She took time from her lunch; she
made the effort; in short, she showed
me how to walk from the station to