Page 213
By Jack Joseph Smith
The luxury linner was in the harbor. Animal and
Jaqueline stood by the brass railing smiling with
curved glasses of white liquor in their hands. A
spring wind blessed Los Angeles after the last of
the rains; and ruffed the sea somewhat as the long
beach sky was cleared of clouds. Stuffed as these
clouds were with the junk of chemical man, still,
the endings of winters desert winds saw fit to
bring space to this day.
Down below on the pier mingled a group of a few
women and about twenty men. The men were in bursts
of laughter every ten seconds or so, and they were
passing wine and marijuana. The group as a whole
was dressed loudly, though each ones nature seemed
set apart from the other, as in a stage play. One
man was round and booming, with a dark face and eye-
brows, and discolored teeth. He was the story teller
announcing the results this unexpected voyage would
bring. Another man with equally dark skin was sly,
and he moved among the crowd that roared with lips
curved for gossip and ears exactly leaned for the
reaction. A few others were lean and handsome with
yellow hair. They were athletes, and would scoff at
themselves and others as they accepted the wine and
passed it on. Still others were compounded with bored