The stranger

The child has been watching a solitary goose in the pond for hours. Should he grow bored this minute, should he grow tired, should he skip back to the house, he would see his father through the back window. He would see his father bound to the legs of a vinyl chair. He would see his father's open mouth masked by tape. He would also see the stranger, enormous in jealousy, set to rip off his father's trousers, preparing to maim with a spoon, until the very next solemn sunrise.