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---
title: Man
genre: prose
project:
title: "Buildings out of air: Paul in the Woods"
css: paul
order: 22
next:
- title: Snow
link: snow
- title: Notes
link: notes
previous:
- title: Cereal
link: cereal
- title: Leg
link: leg
...
_THIS MAN REFUSED TO OPEN HIS EYES_
Paul read this on an old mugshot in the library. He had taken the bus into
town to check out a few books on woodworking and got distracted by the True
Crime section. He found this mugshot in a book titled _Crooks like Us_ that
was published in Sydney. He liked how cities were named after women, or how
women were named after cities, whichever was true.
The man in the picture's eyes were tightly shut, as though he'd just come into
the brightness of day after being dark inside for a long time. His head was
tilted up and slightly to the right. He was wearing a short light tie with
hash marks, and a pinstripe suit. Paul wished the photograph was in color.
He was standing in front of a plain brown wall covered in fabric.
The man's eyes were not so tightly shut as Paul first thought. His eyebrows
lifted away from the eyes, giving the man a bemused look. His mouth was
slightly opened in what seemed to Paul like a grin. This was accentuated by
the man's ears, which were large. Paul wasn't sure why the ears made the man
look happier. He wondered what crime he had committed.
Above the man's head was written _T. BEDE.22.11.28 / 203 A_. _THIS MAN
REFUSED TO OPEN HIS EYES_ was written over his suit, directly below his
ribcage.
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