by joshua heineman                        ( about cb )

After returning home full & happy Thanksgiving night, I went bumbling down the streets in search of toothpaste. What a day to run empty of such a thing: 24-hour groceries closed, corner stores closed, everywhere I went dark & shuttered. But above me all along the way, four or five stories in each direction, the windows were lit up w/faces, clanking tableware, & the unmistakable song of laughter. But there were no open doors or open signs on the ground floor until Chinatown appeared, neon & swampy, from the relentless zigzag progress of my walking. I bought a small tube from a tiny store that seemed to sell everything, & then turned back up the hill. Just as I emerged at the point of the climb where Chinatown’s orange glow disappears into the streets below (sort of like lava in an underground flow), I encountered a solitary bubble floating near an intersection on Mason Street. There were no obvious sources, no passing cars or sorcerers. The magic bubble was bumbling about in the wind much like I was, so we cast our lot together for awhile. Did I feel strange following a bubble across deserted streets & sidewalks? Maybe. It didn’t really occur to me until later, when the bubble had popped & I was left again w/my thoughts & a small tube of toothpaste. I stood in that place for a few minutes. I wasn’t in a hurry - Alcatraz looked epic from there & it was a short walk home.