number four, duck macdonald for serialkarma
Beside a singing mountain stream
Where the willow grew
Where the silver leaf of maple
Sparkled in the norning dew
I braided twigs of willows
Made a string of buckeye beads;
But flesh and blood need flesh and blood
And you're the one I need
Duck took Emily to his house and gave her Oreos he had in the cabinet and a glass of milk. He got some iced tea for himself and sat down across from her.
Emily picked at the cookies and unscrewed them and scraped the filling off with her fingernail but didn't eat any.
Duck drank his tea and didn't say anything.
"I hate him," Emily said after a minute. "I hate him a lot. I just -- God, why do people have to be such jerks?"
Duck thought about Emily's boyfriend outside the motel banging on her door and Dan inside the room telling him about his wife. Duck said, "It's just the way it is, I guess."
"It's stupid," Emily said, staring down at her cookie crumbs. "It's stupid!" she repeated, fiercely, and just hearing her voice made Duck feel old, like he could hardly remember being as young as Sandra's daughter was now.
"Yeah," Duck said.
"I wish -- I wish I could just run off somewhere. Somewhere else. Somewhere where I wouldn't have to deal with boys and my mom and-- and everything." Emily looked up at him. "It'd be easier to go just go off somewhere and be a hermit or something."
Duck shook his head slowly. "Nah, that doesn't work. You run away and it's just you and whatever crap you brought with you. You can't cut yourself off from people."
"Why not?" Emily said. Her face had a perfect little frown, just like Sandra's in high school. Duck wasn't close to Sandra, hadn't been for a long time, but he's willing to bet for every mistake she's lived through she's willing to put her daughter up as the other side, the up side. What makes it worth it.
"Well, people," said Duck. "People need each other. That's what we all need, to connect to somebody else, even it's just for a minute or an hour or a second. That's the whole point."
Emily frowned down at the table again.
"You can't throw away the good," Duck finished. "Just like you can't take the good alone, either. Good and bad, you have to take all of it together."
Duck tried running away, once, and for a long time he tried living like that, without those connections, just him all alone with nature and art and his own head. He knew that wasn't any good. It's like what he was trying to show Dan in the motel room. Bad stuff, yeah, but good stuff was going to come out of it. Freedom. Maybe them.
Emily still didn't say anything, but she picked up a cookie from the table and took a bite.
Where the willow grew
Where the silver leaf of maple
Sparkled in the norning dew
I braided twigs of willows
Made a string of buckeye beads;
But flesh and blood need flesh and blood
And you're the one I need
Duck took Emily to his house and gave her Oreos he had in the cabinet and a glass of milk. He got some iced tea for himself and sat down across from her.
Emily picked at the cookies and unscrewed them and scraped the filling off with her fingernail but didn't eat any.
Duck drank his tea and didn't say anything.
"I hate him," Emily said after a minute. "I hate him a lot. I just -- God, why do people have to be such jerks?"
Duck thought about Emily's boyfriend outside the motel banging on her door and Dan inside the room telling him about his wife. Duck said, "It's just the way it is, I guess."
"It's stupid," Emily said, staring down at her cookie crumbs. "It's stupid!" she repeated, fiercely, and just hearing her voice made Duck feel old, like he could hardly remember being as young as Sandra's daughter was now.
"Yeah," Duck said.
"I wish -- I wish I could just run off somewhere. Somewhere else. Somewhere where I wouldn't have to deal with boys and my mom and-- and everything." Emily looked up at him. "It'd be easier to go just go off somewhere and be a hermit or something."
Duck shook his head slowly. "Nah, that doesn't work. You run away and it's just you and whatever crap you brought with you. You can't cut yourself off from people."
"Why not?" Emily said. Her face had a perfect little frown, just like Sandra's in high school. Duck wasn't close to Sandra, hadn't been for a long time, but he's willing to bet for every mistake she's lived through she's willing to put her daughter up as the other side, the up side. What makes it worth it.
"Well, people," said Duck. "People need each other. That's what we all need, to connect to somebody else, even it's just for a minute or an hour or a second. That's the whole point."
Emily frowned down at the table again.
"You can't throw away the good," Duck finished. "Just like you can't take the good alone, either. Good and bad, you have to take all of it together."
Duck tried running away, once, and for a long time he tried living like that, without those connections, just him all alone with nature and art and his own head. He knew that wasn't any good. It's like what he was trying to show Dan in the motel room. Bad stuff, yeah, but good stuff was going to come out of it. Freedom. Maybe them.
Emily still didn't say anything, but she picked up a cookie from the table and took a bite.