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Show 391 slowing as they approached the crest of the hill in front of the house and then gathering speed as they descended away from each other. He went back to his bed and sat there a minute, then got up and went to the window again, then to the window overlooking the balcony with the cannabis, if that was what it was, then back and forth the length of his room several times. He was swollen, and that bothered him, but more importantly something inside his head was beginning to race out of control, and he knew he had to keep moving or an insight was going to burst open an important vessel. He pulled on some clothes and went out, feeling the sidewalk tip as he walked the six downhill blocks to the beach, forcing him to veer sharply to keep from falling. He stopped once to steady himself against a bus stop bench and then went on, carefully, his arms extended at either side for balance. He was conscious several times of the sound of pounding feet coming up behind him on the sidewalk and sweeping past him on both sides. The used clothing store on the corner across from the beach was closed, but he glanced into the window as he went by and saw his head pass through a bird cage that hung in a stand beside a broken leather chair. Across the street he took off his shoes and felt the sand burn his feet as he climbed a dune and side-slipped down the other side, narrowly missing a blanket on which a brown girl lay on her stomach while her boy friend nuzzled her back. They looked up at him and Lorin stumbled past pretending he hadn't seen them. The beach was crowded, despite the smog, and he seemed to be the only one on it wearing street clothes. He was vaguely aware that this made him conspicuous, but it was too late to think of that now; it was like dreaming you had gone to work naked and only noticed it halfway through the day, by which time you had to tough it out. |
