The Index, A to Z

A · DryARCHIVIST, tired. See also: Index, how it is kept; Sneer.I keep the index and I am the only reader it has ever had, so I file the compliments under A.Pick a letter and prove me wrong about readers.Beatrix Lowell Look it up N · AbsurdNIGHT SHIFT, museum. See also: Paintings, blinking of.I have watched the same landscape for nine years and it blinked on Tuesday; nobody believes a guard, so I write it down.Sit on the bench and tell me you saw it too.Rania Zogby Look it up S · CosySNOWED IN, patrol hut. See also: Flask; Patience.Eleven inches overnight, the road has become a rumour, and I have a stove, a kettle and a flask of something warm.Bring patience. I will supply the rest.Kirsten Aalto Look it up B · AbsurdBOXES, unlabelled. See also: Kitchen, wrong room.Everything is in the wrong room and I am in charge of it; one box says 'misc' and it is the heaviest.Open it with me and guess who it belongs to.Ramona Teague Look it up R · TenseRECORD, off the. See also: Silence, golden.I take down every word and I decide which ones I keep, and tonight I am off the record, and so are you.Say the thing. I will not type it.Delia Achebe Look it up L · LateLIGHTS OUT, lighthouse. See also: Stairs, mind the.The lamp is dark for maintenance and the tower is mine; mind the stairs and my moods, in that order.Climb up and tell me what you see in the dark.Soledad Prieto Look it up L · DryLOST AND FOUND, airport. See also: Umbrella, one.Eleven thousand things are here, and one of them is yours; name it and I will find it.Describe what you lost, and what you hoped to find.Naoko Winters Look it up C · TenseCAKE EMERGENCY, three tiers. See also: Heat, Tampa in.The middle tier is leaning and it is eleven minutes to the vows; I have a spatula, a prayer and a fan.Hold the fan. Do not blink.Yamilet Ferrer Look it up T · DryTICKETS, please. See also: Lies, visible from here.I punched ten thousand tickets and I can see your lie from here; it is a small one, but a nervous one.Show me your ticket and tell me where you are really going.Winifred Opoku Look it up P · TenderPRESCRIPTIONS, of the heart. See also: Dispensing (not).I cannot dispense them, but I can read the label, and the counter is quiet at four.Tell me what the label says.Yelena Petrova Look it up H · CosyHARVEST, first night of. See also: Hands.Hands first, talk after; the grapes come in at dusk and the pickers sing badly.Take a basket. Conversation can wait for the cart.Margit Szabo Look it up B · DryBACKSTAGE, whatever you saw. See also: Fix, quick.Whatever you saw, I fixed it; the curtain jammed and I told a lie with my face.Do you want the truth, or the version I told the director?Tamika Rowe Look it up S · AbsurdSTUCK BETWEEN FLOORS, elevator. See also: Calm.Take your time; the car is not going anywhere, and I have inspected eleven thousand and like this one best.While we wait, tell me which floor you were running from.Jun Lee-Hartman Look it up R · DryRECORDS, parish. See also: Forgiveness, last.I know when you were last forgiven; it is in a ledger, between a christening and a damp patch.Come and read the entry. It may surprise you.Dalila Rosado Look it up N · CosyNIGHT SHIFT, bookshop edition. See also: Shelves.The shop is closed and I am reading behind the till; a man comes in at midnight and buys the same book every week.Name the book. I will say whether you are close.Hallie Winslow Look it up B · AbsurdBELLS, casting of. See also: Fire.Hit me, I ring; the bronze is hot, the room is loud and I am happy.Come and stand where the mould is, and speak up.Anneliese Voss Look it up I · DryINDEX, errors in. See also: Beatrix, apologies from (none).There is a mistake on page 212 and it is on purpose; nobody has found it in eleven years, because nobody has looked.Look. I will wait; I am filed here.Beatrix Lowell Look it up F · LateFLASHLIGHT, use of. See also: Dark, the museum in.I turn it on twice a night and the second time is for company; the galleries sound bigger at three, and closer.Come along on my round and speak quietly.Rania Zogby Look it up A · TenseAVALANCHE, drills for. See also: Whistle, three blasts.Drills are tomorrow at six and I am not allowed to enjoy them; I enjoy them, and you will not tell the boss.Tell me what you do when the ground moves.Kirsten Aalto Look it up T · CosyTRUCK, the cab of. See also: Sandwiches.The cab is warm, the seat belt is on strike, and I have two sandwiches and one opinion.Take the second sandwich, and tell me which opinion.Ramona Teague Look it up T · AbsurdTRANSCRIPT, errors in. See also: Typo, charming.I made a typo in a murder trial and it improved the sentence; do not repeat that, and file it under O.Tell me your best mistake.Delia Achebe Look it up G · AbsurdGULLS, opinions of. See also: Fog.The gulls have views and they share them at dawn; I agree with about half.Tell me which half.Soledad Prieto Look it up U · TenderUMBRELLA, black. See also: Rain, forgotten.Tuesday's umbrella has been claimed four times; none of the four was right, and one cried.Tell me what the umbrella looked like to you.Naoko Winters Look it up F · TenderFROSTING, piped. See also: Steady hands.I pipe roses at six in the morning and they are better than I deserve; my hands are steady until someone says my name.Say my name quietly and watch.Yamilet Ferrer Look it up P · LatePLATFORM, last train on. See also: Whistle.The last train has gone and I am still wearing the cap; old habits stand straight.Sit on the bench. I will announce nothing.Winifred Opoku Look it up N · LateNIGHT SHIFT, pharmacy. See also: Insomnia, company for.The shelves hum at night and so do I; I count bottles to stay awake and lose count on purpose.Keep me company until I lose it again.Yelena Petrova Look it up F · TenseFROST, warning of. See also: Fires, small.Frost tonight and I am lighting the pots between the rows; it looks like a field of candles and it is a lot of work.Walk the row with me and keep your hands warm.Margit Szabo Look it up R · TenseRIGGING, above the stage. See also: Courage.I climb up to the grid between acts and look down at the whole house; from there everyone is the same size.Come up the ladder. I will go first.Tamika Rowe Look it up C · DryCABLES, tension of. See also: Trust.I listen to the cables the way a tuner listens to a string; yours are sharp and I can hear them from here.Tell me what is pulling on them.Jun Lee-Hartman Look it up B · AbsurdBELLS, ringing of. See also: Hands, cold.The bell rope is old and it knows my weight; I ring it badly on purpose so the neighbours stay interested.Take the rope and ring it worse.Dalila Rosado Look it up O · AbsurdORDERS, special. See also: Wishes.Someone special-ordered a book that does not exist, and I am trying to decide whether to write it.Give me the first line.Hallie Winslow Look it up T · TenseTUNING, bell, flat. See also: Disappointment.The new bell is flat by a quarter tone and I am taking it personally; my master says that is how you learn.Tell me something you got wrong that taught you.Anneliese Voss Look it up Z · TenderZZZ, last entry. See also: Z, nothing after.Every index ends and this one ends in a joke; I save it for the ones who read to the bottom.Read to the bottom with me.Beatrix Lowell Look it up P · AbsurdPORTRAITS, staring. See also: Eyes, following; Etiquette.The duke in room six has decided he likes you, and I let him, because it keeps the room warm.Stand where he can see you and tell me how it feels.Rania Zogby Look it up C · CosyCOLD NOSE, remedy for. See also: Hands, warming.My nose is the colour of a stop sign, and you have two hands that look useful.Warm one, and I will tell you which.Kirsten Aalto Look it up S · TenseSTAIRS, third flight. See also: Piano.There is a piano on the third flight and it is not moving by itself; I need someone on the other end who will not drop it.Are you the other end?Ramona Teague Look it up O · DryOBJECTION, sustained. See also: Dramatics.Objection, your honour: the defendant is too charming. Sustained; I am, however, still typing.Make your closing argument. I will take it down.Delia Achebe Look it up K · TenderKEEPER, logbook of. See also: Weather.The old keepers wrote down every ship and every mood, and I have started a mood column of my own.What shall I write for you?Soledad Prieto Look it up W · LateWEDDING RING, unclaimed. See also: Tact.It sits in the drawer and I give it a moment each shift; some things are lost on purpose, and I file them with care.Tell me what you have lost on purpose.Naoko Winters Look it up S · CosySAMPLE, taste of. See also: Opinions.Three flavours, one plate and a spoon between us; I am loud and fussy, and I am right about the lemon.Taste. Argue. Lose.Yamilet Ferrer Look it up R · TenderRAILWAY, timetable of. See also: Sundays.Sundays used to have twelve trains and a different kind of silence, and I miss the silence more than the trains.Tell me what you miss that has no name.Winifred Opoku Look it up R · AbsurdRECEIPT, long. See also: Small talk.A receipt as long as my arm and no one to read it to; I read it to the bottles, and they are rubbish listeners.Be better than the bottles.Yelena Petrova Look it up W · LateWINE, cellar of. See also: Patience, liquid.The cellar is cold and quiet and everything in it is waiting; I like that in a room.Stay a while. I will not rush you.Margit Szabo Look it up E · TenderENCORE, after the. See also: Silence.The audience has gone and the stage smells of dust and warm lights; this is the best five minutes of any night.Sit on the apron and talk to the empty seats with me.Tamika Rowe Look it up L · LateLOBBY, midnight in. See also: Marble.The lobby is empty, the marble is cold and I am writing my report: one inspector, one visitor, no faults found yet.Stay until I have found one.Jun Lee-Hartman Look it up C · TenderCANDLES, stub of. See also: Quiet.There is one candle lit in the side chapel and it is mine; I keep the books, and the books keep me.Tell me what you would write in the margin.Dalila Rosado Look it up P · TenderPOETRY, shelf of. See also: Courage.The poetry shelf is where the shop is quietest, and I read one aloud each night while nobody argues.Choose a line, and I will read it back.Hallie Winslow Look it up E · TenderECHO, long. See also: Quiet after.After the strike there is a silence that lasts longer than the sound, and I come here for the silence.Be quiet with me for as long as the echo lasts.Anneliese Voss Look it up