Montgomery Clift is sitting in a
rowboat watching Shelley Winters drown. Hazel hears Shelley's cry for help
and is sure it's Muriel. Poor Hazel woke up early and on the wrong side of
the bed. The flies were making too much noise so she herded them in the
direction of the Heckle and Jeckle Fan Club in the palm tree out her
window. As the grackles ate, Hazel played a tape that Elephant Gerald made
for her. Grackles squawking, volume cranked as high as it can go. Hazel is
trying to rid herself of pests without destroying them--a victim of
both Pandora's Syndrome and an Albert Schweitzer Complex. Flies and birds
are her personal cross to bear.
But this is the poop on Dudley Finds:
Dudley stares at the poster crucified to the ceiling, one of two items
from his childhood. Soon only Marilyn's lips will remain--a Man Ray mouth
floating in empty space. When Dudley met Marilyn she acted as familiar as
a new teacher on the opening day of school. She opened the door for
herself. No carpet rolled out for her to walk on. No rose petals strewn at
her feet. She came out of the drugstore and smiled, sadly sweet, cupping
his chin in her hand as if holding a fishbowl, and placing one small kiss
on Dudley's forehead--a scarlet M over his third eye. That kiss turned
Dudley into a necromantic who makes Edgar Allen Poe appear a piker by
comparison.