Memories Shifting Memories

February 28, 2018April 7, 2018 ~ Piece, of the Sky

nintendo 64

The fog covered the tops of the skyscrapers. Alli watched this through the large, storefront window of Cosi. She stirred some pumpkin soup. Outside was damp and rainy, the sidewalk covered with a thin plane of moisture.

Kaan came in, shaking her umbrella. She was in her leather, biker jacket, as always, high and tight haircut pulled into a top-knot. After ordering a panini from the front counter, she sat down on the stool next to Alli’s.

“Is that still hot?” She gestured at the soup.

“It’s fine,” Alli smiled.

Kaan took her wool scarf off and looked out the window. Cars were circling Bryant Park and raced down the Avenue of the Americas.

Alli picked up the soup and sipped it. “Thank you for coming down from Maine,” she said.

“Well, you did come up and see me,” Kaan said.

The panini arrived, and Kaan broke off a chunk of chicken pesto and popped it in her mouth.

“That’s not hot?” Alli wondered.

Kaan laughed, “I don’t mind if I burn the top of my mouth a little!”

A taxi sped by, dousing the sidewalk in a wave from a nearby puddle.

“So,” Kaan leaned forward, “What is Ran like?”

“She’s nice,” Alli said, “I like her.”

“And you met in the Caribbean?” Kaan asked, tearing off another sandwich corner.

Alli nodded, “Ran is very wild, but she has a good heart.”

“What did Xen say?”

“Xen left me. It was very amicable,” Alli explained, “We were only dating.”

“What a magnificent ‘date,'” Kaan raised her eyebrows.

Alli chuckled, holding her soup, “She is at a level of the jet set that I am not yet privy to.”

“Well,” Kaan said, picking up the sandwich, “You deserve to be happy – after everything that happened with Dallas.”

Glancing at Kaan, Alli put down her soup, “You do too.”

Kaan shrugged.

“Have you met anyone in Maine?”

“I still feel like a transplant in Maine,” Kaan said.

“Maybe Ran and I will come visit you there,” Alli said.

“The trip to the cabin in upstate New York was pretty neat,” Kaan admitted.

“You can always move back to New York too,” Alli added, “But only if that’s what you want.”

“I will think about it,” Kaan said.

They finished their respective meals. Rain continued to mist on the windows.

“What will Nealy say?” Kaan grinned, “They do look alike…”

Alli smirked, “She will probably laugh.”

Miniscule rivers ran down the glass. “I guess, I’d better go before this downpour gets worse,” Kaan said.

“You’re welcome back anytime!” Alli hugged her.

Kaan left with her soggy umbrella. A mourning dove leapt from the rim of a street trashcan, flying into the shelter of the awning.

pay attention

Songs:

Chopin – Polonaise, Op. 26, No. 1 in C-Sharp Minor

Puccini – Gianni Schicchi, opera: “O mio babbino caro”

Control the Dream

February 26, 2018May 6, 2018 ~ Piece, of the Sky

Fuji Elsa-wave

Raindrops in the sea. Ghosts of mist and clouds floated out to the horizon, into the black night. The rain threw up little explosions of sand on the beach, constantly washed away by the waves. The sky was the color of slate, streaked with pewter, like a block of marble.

It was a warm rain; the gusts were controlled and mild. The palm trees sashayed in the wind, their fronds leaning back and forth, water sliding off the resin on their leaves. Ran and Alli watched this vista from the hardwood patio of Ran’s cabana. Their perspective was framed by the posts of the porch and thatch sticking out from the roof, providing a dry patch of sand for them to burrow their toes in.

Ran’s boat was moored in front of them, lashed to a log standing in the water, near the dock. They had covered it in blue tarpaulin, before the rain started, as the wind was chasing the clouds and covering up the moon.

They stared at the rain, their pants’ feet rolled up over their ankles. The boat lolled up and down in the water from another shore. Rocks and sand were carried out to sea, caught on currents meant for somewhere else.

Alli glanced at Ran’s yellow, fiberglass surfboard, leaning against the cabana façade, and said, “So, you surf too?”

“Yes, since I was a teenager,” Ran said, watching the darkness and leaning on her knees.

“Is that why you came out here?” Alli asked.

“Somewhat,” Ran answered. She turned to Alli, still hugging her knees, “Why did you come out here?”

“Well, Xen invited me out here,” Alli said. She crossed her arms and leaned on her knees also. She sunk her toes deeper into the cool sand. The rain pelted a smaller island, farther out at sea.

Ran turned and looked back at her feet, “You said I reminded you of someone. Who?”

Alli looked at Ran, “A friend from high school.”

“Is she still your friend?”

“Yes,” Alli said. She looked out over the gray water. A streak of lightning flashed, illuminating the distant island.

The rain picked up and it became colder, the dampness seeping under the thatch roof. They shifted together now, for warmth, yet still left a space between them – two hedgehogs in the downpour.

“What do you do?” Alli asked.

Ran smiled, crossed arms holding heat to her chest, “I work in a surf shop, of course. But I also write fiction. I wrote one novel that sold well, while I was still in college, but I haven’t been able to follow it up since. I just write short stories and book reviews now.”

“What was your book about?” Alli wondered.

Ran turned to Alli now, “The tendrils of love that still linger.”

“Romance, huh?” Alli said.

“Yes. I guess it just caught the zeitgeist of the age. Nostalgia for Generation X, or Y – or something,” Ran said. She looked back at her toes.

Alli moved so that her shoulder touched Ran’s. The thunder growled out beyond the tiny island, buffeted by the sea, lone palm tree swaying in the gathering gale.

Fisherman's_Jumping_Game