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He picked it up and studied it closely, trying to figure out what it could be. It was like something much larger that had been whittled down to its essential nature and then dropped on the ground right in front of him. Like a soul. He put it in his mouth. It tasted alright. Maybe it was food. It certainly didn't taste poisonous or anything. It didn't taste like he ever thought a soul would, though. But what could it be? He swallowed it, secretly hoping it was the soul of a bird or a beautiful woman, and now it was his. Thinking this took a little time but after it was over he noticed a young girl as she glanced at him and then quickly returned to her studying. She was fresh and smart-looking, like a young girl studying, and the lights made a shadow fall across her like a shawl and over her hands. She was like a memory of all the girls who had ever studied in cafes. Maybe she had seen him eating the thing and she knew what it was. He thought of going over and asking her: "Do you know what I just ate?" But after he thought about that for a little while he started thinking about other things, and soon he was imagining himself as a bird, flying over mountains and mountains of women's magazines, and when his flying took him back to the place where the girl had just glanced over at him, she was getting up to leave, and it was too late to ask her anything.
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