Purification

www.goodaboom.com

So there we were, Miki and I, enjoying the sunshine, minding the Street gallery on a windy Sunday afternoon, when I hear Miki whisper, terrified, under her breath, "I dont want to talk to that woman!!" Now Miki is normally quite sociable with the passers-by and prospective clients, so I was a little surprised by this outburst, until she told me about the woman purposefully heading our way. Unfortunately, she didn't tell me about her until after the event...

Miki pulled her cap down firmly over her face and did a good imitation of being part of the lamp post against which we were sitting. The woman came to me, pointing at Miki's Bullfight paintings and wailing "No bien, No bien!" I grinned at her. I'm good at that. "Espanol?" she asked, rather desperately for my liking. "No!" I replied quickly, for once relieved to be English. She continued to remonstrate about the paintings, saying they should be destroyed. "They're only paintings," I said helpfully, with another, hopefully annoying, cheery smile. She proceeded to burst into tears and head across the street.

Miki miraculously returned to life. "Her name is Puri, short for Purification" she said, "and she believes she's been sent by God to purify the human race."She went on to tell me that Puri apparently has a relationship with a guy, but he's in heaven. Bummer.She's well-known for scrounging cigarettes and alcohol from people on the basis of being, well, loony I guess. I understand she's had a few one-night purifications, too. Care in the community's a wonderful thing. I guess she's really taken her name to heart, living up to the maxim of ritual cleansing:"To Remove guilt, sin or uncleanliness". Except she seems to have got it confused with tomming around and cadging cigarettes and booze out of people. And she sometimes appears normal if she thinks people suss her out.Dont you just LOVE the holier-than-thou brigade? I know one thing, it's given me fresh impetus to finish The Heretic's Song. Every cloud has a silver lining. I wonder if its the one her fella lives on?

There's another definition for Purification in the dictionary:
The Process of ridding oneself of something, harmful, inferior, or unwanted yes, Puri, I'll remember that next time you approach the street gallery!

Disclaimer: The author of this piece strongly advocates the treatment of mental health within the confines of a secure and stable environment. He performed many free concerts for patients in a Mental Health Hospital in his youth.