(no subject)
When Daniel Espeset woke up this morning the first thing he noticed was the way the light hit the ceiling through his upwards turned blinds, that reflected light created such a soft coating on everything. His arm. His couch. His pillow. He figured that if he were outside his body looking upon himself he would look better in that light, in that bed, than anywhere else during the day. He showered and went to lunch with his mother, Martha. They discussed the practicalities of his moving to another city approximately 15 states east in less than 2 months. After lunch he got dropped off at a mall on the exact other side of town than he needed to be. He thought, as he walked to the bus stop, that this was probably the exact other side of town than he wanted to be almost 90 percent of the time. Then he considered that this part of town is much more alluring when one has friends living there, which he no longer did.
For many years now, many humans -- most of them college admissions officers or the film Donnie Darko -- have asked the question, what is the single most beneficial invention ever brought about by human kind. On the way to the bus stop Daniel was quite pleased to discover that he knew the answer. Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream.
"You don't have a lighter?" She said. She gestured with the filter of a half smoked cigarette, now without flame. "No, I'm afraid I don't smoke." He countered, earnestly. "Are you catching the bus?" She mused.
"Yeah, I'm going downtown... but then, I guess they all go downtown eventually right?"
"Yeah..."
"Do you know where that one is headed?" Daniel pointed at the crowded bus that had been idling beside them, looking blind without a driver. "Nope. But as long as your waiting, come sit down here and talk to me." He thought for a moment, and then did. She didn't seem dangerous or shifty, well not more so than the people filling the other benches. She was a younger heavy set woman, with her hair pulled and braided. She had a sack with the bright eyed "Wendy" printed on the side. It was dripping grease. She proceeded to tell him about how she was waiting for a bus to go see her boyfriend, even though he told her not to come over. She had been in jail for 2 weeks after she beat him up. Daniel assumed that was the last time she had seen him. "Now I haf' to do community service, pick up trash.... 8-5 tomorrow." She related how they had gotten into an argument about something while both exceedingly drunk and she had beat the crap out of him. He called the cops to "get this crazy bitch out of my house." Then she broke his glasses. As she was pantomiming the event in greater detail bus number 21 clambered around the side of the mall into view. It made, like all busses in Santa Fe, new and old alike, a sound not far from metal being bent into a shape it was not originally intended. He stood up and bid her fair well, then walked down the street to where the bus had stopped rather short and climbed on.
50 cents and 45 minutes later Daniel was sitting in the St. Francis hotel ordering a hamburger and coke from the cute bartender. He sat by himself watching the rain clouds form and break, liberally dumping water about the landscape. He stayed to watch a group tourists wearing Bermuda shorts and t-shirts scatter for cover as he finished off his meal and took care of his bill.
Around 8:30, after safely coming home, Daniel walked up to the store so he could buy food before it closed. As he crested the hill just to the west of his house lightening struck in the brightest and closest way he had seen since he was very young. He tilted his head back, closed his eyes and let the thunder crawl over him, covering the world like a blanket. He thought it was one of the most beautiful things he have ever heard. The sky during the trip up was a dark and unwavering shade of blue and grey, and the whole landscape, everything in it looked like it was covered in a blue plastic. The lights flickering on inside of houses was a striking orange compared to the bath of subdued light outside. It reminded Daniel of summers long past, with fires and flashlights moving through a valley filled with tents.
He ate his dinner on the front porch and reveled in the way the sky lit up above the city, some 7 miles north-west. He finished and realized that he had bought, and made exactly enough food for 2 people. I'll consider it a meal in effigy, to a person not yet met. He couldn't tell if that made him very happy, or very sad.
For many years now, many humans -- most of them college admissions officers or the film Donnie Darko -- have asked the question, what is the single most beneficial invention ever brought about by human kind. On the way to the bus stop Daniel was quite pleased to discover that he knew the answer. Cold Stone Creamery Ice Cream.
"You don't have a lighter?" She said. She gestured with the filter of a half smoked cigarette, now without flame. "No, I'm afraid I don't smoke." He countered, earnestly. "Are you catching the bus?" She mused.
"Yeah, I'm going downtown... but then, I guess they all go downtown eventually right?"
"Yeah..."
"Do you know where that one is headed?" Daniel pointed at the crowded bus that had been idling beside them, looking blind without a driver. "Nope. But as long as your waiting, come sit down here and talk to me." He thought for a moment, and then did. She didn't seem dangerous or shifty, well not more so than the people filling the other benches. She was a younger heavy set woman, with her hair pulled and braided. She had a sack with the bright eyed "Wendy" printed on the side. It was dripping grease. She proceeded to tell him about how she was waiting for a bus to go see her boyfriend, even though he told her not to come over. She had been in jail for 2 weeks after she beat him up. Daniel assumed that was the last time she had seen him. "Now I haf' to do community service, pick up trash.... 8-5 tomorrow." She related how they had gotten into an argument about something while both exceedingly drunk and she had beat the crap out of him. He called the cops to "get this crazy bitch out of my house." Then she broke his glasses. As she was pantomiming the event in greater detail bus number 21 clambered around the side of the mall into view. It made, like all busses in Santa Fe, new and old alike, a sound not far from metal being bent into a shape it was not originally intended. He stood up and bid her fair well, then walked down the street to where the bus had stopped rather short and climbed on.
50 cents and 45 minutes later Daniel was sitting in the St. Francis hotel ordering a hamburger and coke from the cute bartender. He sat by himself watching the rain clouds form and break, liberally dumping water about the landscape. He stayed to watch a group tourists wearing Bermuda shorts and t-shirts scatter for cover as he finished off his meal and took care of his bill.
Around 8:30, after safely coming home, Daniel walked up to the store so he could buy food before it closed. As he crested the hill just to the west of his house lightening struck in the brightest and closest way he had seen since he was very young. He tilted his head back, closed his eyes and let the thunder crawl over him, covering the world like a blanket. He thought it was one of the most beautiful things he have ever heard. The sky during the trip up was a dark and unwavering shade of blue and grey, and the whole landscape, everything in it looked like it was covered in a blue plastic. The lights flickering on inside of houses was a striking orange compared to the bath of subdued light outside. It reminded Daniel of summers long past, with fires and flashlights moving through a valley filled with tents.
He ate his dinner on the front porch and reveled in the way the sky lit up above the city, some 7 miles north-west. He finished and realized that he had bought, and made exactly enough food for 2 people. I'll consider it a meal in effigy, to a person not yet met. He couldn't tell if that made him very happy, or very sad.