By: Laura Noveck [2003-06-03]

Perhaps I Will Stop Talking

When I Realize I Am Just Sitting Here

Perhaps this is where we are meant to stay.

And there he is. A cold night, the wind whispering secrets of rain, and a possible fog come the morning hours. Sitting. The grass damp from sprinkler water, the scent of dirt drifting slightly above the fine blades. The sun bends over a horizon of birch trees, and maple, sending its final farewells to the living world. A diamond is in the distance, belonging to the field ahead, the crack of a ball meeting a bat echoes persuasion. But, it is only an echo, and the memory of middle school baseball follows, though five years later, seventh grade becomes faint, and seems to lower itself with the sun.

What can I do?

And there am I. I swallow thoughtfully; there is not much I can ponder of to say. There are answers to these things, but never questions. Who does he think he is, to be the one creating the questions all of the sudden? Unlike him, I can smell and sense the dripping maple leaves beyond the diamond, what I sense is irony. But I can never tell him that. My hand travels over the cold, hollow metal of a crutch, and
into his. Worn and clammy.

I lift. My chin rises to the sunset; I squeeze the top of my eyelids to their bottom. I lower. My head falls down, and I open my eyes to my hand in his. I bring my eyes to his level, though he is staring straight ahead. Never turning his head, he cannot seize his thoughts. Had I before realized just how blue his eyes become when he is lost, I would not turn mine away.

Say nothing.

I tilt my head, and my eyes close in on the diamond. Suddenly, I am able to finally witness what he has been staring at all this time. A hope. There is a dream of mystery awaiting our steps, though we must
travel paths of broken coke bottles, and leave the blackberry bushes of our youth. We must trail their thorns along the hems of our jeans into the world in which we have longed for, reached for.

We are lost. I sense his sea blue eyes piercing my chilled cheek.

How can I do that?

I do not have an answer; all the answers worth promoting have already been discovered. Torn and thrown away, they are useless to myself and his recovery. I breathe. Deeply, and regretfully, I inhale a thick breath of summer promises. How can I make him feel what it is I am thinking? Perhaps if I think the way I feel. But I could never do that, I am too absentminded to promote my own thoughts.

A word. Something inflicts itself into my mind, tears through my thoughts. This is almost painful. This is all I can do to make him understand. This is all I have the power to say, and if he cannot comprehend, I do not know why I am sitting in among these damp blades, beside him, in the first place. Follow your leads, have faith in the spontaneous.

Be.
Blackberry Thorns [2003-06-03 05:33:00] Hieronymous Biscuit
I actually think that I know what you meant about trailing the thorns of the blackberry bushes of our youth. Altogether, it's an interesting lens to look through.
General Level of Dampness [2003-06-03 06:12:00] Hieronymous Biscuit
Also, I liked the dampness and the trees, birch and maple, I could smell them.
[2003-06-03 08:12:00] jane
wow. This is beautiful. It reminds me of the awkward-ness of my first kisses, the anticipation of touching someone for the first time. I was there. Good job.
But oogie [2003-06-03 09:53:00] Hieronymous Biscuit
But it still makes me feel oogie. But I guess that's part of the blackberry thorns part.
question is [2003-06-03 10:24:00] posthumous
whose crutch is it? I would have to say it's her crutch. He feels helpless, though. That's the irony. This rewarded a second and third reading. This is really great. The hidden drama of the woman who just lost the ability to walk and is coping with it in the face of a boyfriend who is not coping with it... all hidden behind her internal monologue, which is not interested in exposition (because in reality an internal monologue never is).

Brava!
[2003-06-03 13:51:00] jonas
When I read this last night I was listening to James Brown and Wilson Pickett so it kind of lost its impact then. But yeah, I've read it a couple more times now, and it's good. A nice change. Gives the hate a rest.
Jonas [2003-06-03 15:16:00] DeWalt Russ
Have you ever heard Wilson Pickett's version of "Hey Jude"? I prefer it to the original.
Mustang Sally [2003-06-03 16:15:00] Hieronymous Biscuit
Mustang Sally is my favorite of his. There is some more, including "Hey Jude," here
OK, sorry [2003-06-03 16:18:00] Hieronymous Biscuit
I left the "h" off the http: in the link
Try here
[2003-06-03 18:24:00] twins
I don't entirely understand it, but I love it all the same.
I do, but in that vague, all encompasing way that glosses over the detail while still seeing the big picture.
As for Beatles songs:
Ah, look at all the lonely users
Ah, look at all the lonely users
Eleanor Rigby
Sits at the keyboard
And waits for a line on the screen
Lives in a dream
Waits for a signal
Finding some code
That will make the machine do some more.
What is it for?

All the lonely users, where do they all come from?
All the lonely users, why does it take so long?

Guru MacKenzie
Typing the lines of a program that no one will run;
Isn't it fun?
Look at him working,
Munching some chips as he waits for the code to compile;
It takes a while...
All the lonely users, where do they all come from?
All the lonely users, why does it take so long?

Ah, look at all the lonely users
Ah, look at all the lonely users
Eleanor Rigby
Crashes the system and loses 6 hours of work;
Feels like a jerk.
Guru MacKenzie
Wiping the crumbs off the keys as he types in the code;
Nothing will load.

All the lonely users, where do they all come from?
All the lonely users, why does it take so long?

WHEEEE!!!
Go, Mordecai [2003-06-03 20:53:00] jonas
I probably liked them the same before The Royal Tenenbaums, but that movie gave the original an edge. I think "In the Midnight Hour" is my favourite Wilson Pickett. We're talking about Wilson Pickett here, twins. Look at all this love. Love love love.
No, don't worry [2003-06-03 20:57:00] jonas
I liked your parody too. Good thing you slipped it into the comments, cos the editors don't go for that kind of thing at all. Damn editors. There's the hate.
Yes [2003-06-03 21:18:00] Morticia~
I noticed that about the editors.
Every one of my last posts have been mysteriously removed. Even the one about my beloved Grandma.
The Eds. [2003-06-03 22:10:00] Hieronymous Biscuit
The editors like it when you sort of address the topic posted, if you can work your personal comments into that, that's probably within limits. I think that "out-of-the-blue" takes them aback. But if you wanted to submit a rant, especially a rant that included something hateful or even moderately detestable, it might well get posted and elicit many thoughtful and well-considered comments. Ha! Me here speaking like the voice of reason.
Morticia [2003-06-03 23:59:00] DeWalt Russ
A while back there was a chap named Lou who came around here. Lou's girlfriend left him and he posted a big old rant in the comments section of an article. By the time I checked the site that day the rant was already gone, leaving behind a trail of meaningless responses. Lou doesn't come around much anymore.
the melancholy! [2003-06-04 02:50:00] Mr Zhivago
I concur with the positive feedback. This particular style of writing is not my thing, but I was really on edge.

Also, it fosters sadness in me. Although you never find out if the girl is sitting with the boy in the cold and damp for naught, I can infer that in fact the boy doesn't "comprehend".
For the piece is not uplifting; it's mournful and full of regret. If the boy was going to "comprehend", it would not have such a melancholic feel. The physical surrounds contribute to this atmosphere: the cold, damp, the twilight. You regretfully breathed a deep breath of "summer promises": evidently it's now winter.
Good work.
The Editors reserve the following rights: [2003-06-04 16:00:00] The Editors
To not post your submission if it is posted on another site.
To not post your submission if it sucks.
To not post your submission if we forget.
To delete your comment if it is off-topic, or for any other reason.

Morticia, we are staring uncomfortably at you while saying this.
Lou doesn't come around much anymore [2003-06-04 16:12:00] jonas
Lou's wearing a pair of concrete galoshes. Now he'll never be able to leave his house, or dance!

And when The Editors said "uncomfortably", they meant "menacingly".
Knifekitten [2003-06-04 16:17:00] Hieronymous Biscuit
At first, I thought that this was going to be a Knifekitten story when I read the part about the metal crotch.
baseball... cold showers... [2003-06-04 16:35:00] minna
that was suprisingly deep. i say suprisingly because at the same time it was only minimaly disturbing. good for you!
C- [2003-06-04 22:00:00] Andrewsarchus
I really liked this piece. I hope I post on topic. Posting is a lot like chat windows for me. I immidiatly forget whatever I said in a chat or post the minute I click "submit" or "send" or whatever.

About this piece: I really enjoyed it. It made me feel... that emotion you get when you experience something really rewarding.
I cringe as I post this. [2003-06-05 04:00:00] Romulus Augustus
1.) This piece was great.

2.) Great like sixsixfive. (NB Editors: that was a sequitur. It's still relevant. At least for 10 hours.)

3.) So what's the deal, with sixsixfive post no.588? The monster has those boots with buckles on them. Why do only monsters (a la Brothers Grim) get to wear boots with shiny (or burnished, n'importe quel) buckles?

4.) So anyway, back to the article (to keep this relevant). It has 2261 characters, if you don't count the spaces. And, by my calculations, the combined ages of a.) the feminine protagonist (although we don't know that do we? maybe it's a queer couple); b.) the male doofus; and c.) the concrete pitch (is pitch the right word) is 91. and 588 times 4
(NB: 4 = the 12 apostles divided by
the number of times Germany has defeated France militarily in the last 133 years (i.e. 3))
IS 2352.

588 is just an awesome number. Who could ask for more from a humbl nombre? Ypu've got a five, and eight, and just in case you felt like another, another eight.

take 91 from 2352 makes 2261, which is the number of characters in the article. Ahh, the meanings that are truly sublime escape us, n'est mas mes freres? ...
So yeah, those boots.



wow [2003-06-05 10:27:00] Zim
This almost brought a tear to my eye. but at the same time..I was bored. Where's the funny! thats not funny, well thought out, but not funny. We need Antwan back!
indeed [2003-06-08 18:39:00] Laura Noveck
I am glad some people actually enjoy (or do not entirely dislike for that matter) what comes out of my head. It was vauge because if I made it too specific then you probobly wouldn't like it so much. I didn't want it to become one of those generic descriptive pieces they make you read over and over agian in 10th grade english. Perhaps the crutch part was a bit too vauge, though. Oh well, it's there, and I believe I have left my toothebrush in the park last night... so I must run and get a new one.
All content copyright original authors; contact them for reprint permission.