Thursday, October 18, 2007

C'est Possible?

Apologies for I have been remiss in posting in the last few days. Though I would love to bring you all an enjoyable article of some kind, I haven't had the opportunity to dig up something fresh and fun.

Instead of an article, I'll venture into as of yet untouched territory, and give you a tiny sketch I've been ruminating on. It's not much, but I suppose it's a step in the "right" direction.
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She woke without fail each night at 1 a.m. Her eyes would slowly flutter open to her husband's low, steady snore echoing through the room, and as he droned on Ellen would drop her legs to the floor and gently extract herself from the familiar nook on the bed. She would stealthily plod her way out the door, down the carpeted hallway, past the room where her sons clutched their flashlights and books beneath the sheets, and find her way into the kitchen. From the cupboard beneath the sink, she would draw out a small rusty-hinged lacquered box and place it on the kitchen counter. Ellen was always careful not to let out a sigh, or even a harsh breath, as she had once let out a cry into the darkened house that caused her husband to rush down the stairs.

Instead, she would keep her lips pursed while she mechanically opened the box's lid and removed a half burned candle and a small Bic lighter, leaving the photograph behind. Ellen would adeptly flick the lighter twice: once for her, and once for him, then touch the flame to the candle's wick. As the light would crawl its way across the counter, Ellen's lips would relax and the familiar calm of a moment reserved just for her and the photograph lying within the box embraced her. For fifteen minutes after the second flick of the lighter, Ellen would stand at the counter's edge in her worn cotton nightgown, her hand placed palm down atop the box.

At 1:18am, she would puff out the candle and deftly place it back in the box next to the lighter and photograph. Then, as quietly and surely as a thick fog rolls over the hills, she would reverse each step until she found herself nestled into her nook, eyelids closing to the gentle rumble of her husband's snore.

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Hmm, ah well. It will have to do for now.

1 comment:

foo foo said...

we want more ! we want more !

oh right... have fun in boston ;)