Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.

– Niels Bohr

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 Surrounded by ancient oak timbers, neither ornate nor fussy, the window at Mannheim captures the city in all of its storied fortitude.

The window gifts you with a godlike perspective; without the window, your delusions could not exist.

Through the window, you observe Frau Mote running her meaningless errands, the retired naval architect taking lunch on the balcony of Sonnenschein-Kaffeehaus, and the tenth victim of a serial killer being laid to rest at Hauptfriedhof Mannheim.

At the counter of Metzgerei Bochner, Frau Mote is expressing puzzlement to the proprietor regarding the putrefying state of the meat, despite Herr Bochner jovially insisting that all is well.  You instinctively know that something is very wrong here, but you cannot quite place your finger upon it.

Lunch being finished, the retired naval architect is enjoying an espresso, whilst reading Noirmoutier’s The Age of Unreason.  Chapter Four is concerned with the evolution of psychopathy in the post-agrarian age. Noirmoutier’s theories are thoroughly compelling, although you cannot help but notice that the retired naval architect is chuckling continuously.

Later, you observe that the window frame you previously noted as neither ornate nor fussy is ingrained with swirling patterns that resemble spiral galaxies.  Beyond Andromeda and the Local Group lie other galaxies and superclusters, but all are dwarfed by the terrifying immensity of the Boötes Void. 

Frau Mote is arguing with Herr Bochner.

The retired naval architect is closing his book.   

A priest is reminding mourners that God’s love is infinite.

As Frau Mote declines to purchase the putrefying meat; as the retired naval architect tips the maître d; as fresh earth is thrown upon the coffin of the tenth victim of the serial killer, there comes a great thumping sound of slowly beating wings, yet it is quite impossible to discern if this comminatory commotion emanates from above you, or from the lost world beyond the window.

…

Dan McNeil is a writer and artist from the UK.  His work has appeared in numerous places, including Alienist Manifesto, Antipodean SF, Bewildering Stories, Fugitives & Futurists, Full House Literary, Hyper-Annotation #001, Interzone Digital, Misery Tourism, Plutonics Journal (vol. XV) and Sein und Werden. 

His website is dan-mcneil.com