Laura
got out two stops early. Woozy from wine, exhausted by the muckraking, she was
determined to shake off the heartaching airlessness of the subway cars before
she got home. She hadn’t been fully aware of the passage of time, less so of
the rain. Leaves were strewn all across the sidewalk and the gutters were noisy
with runoff. She took a fickle breath, wrapped her coat around her and headed
down the wide avenue, circumventing the intense emotion of the train station.
By the duplicitous park, kids were out riding on their skateboards, sluicing up
the metal dragon like liquid despair and then crashing down again in
spectacularly failed jumps. She marched past them and their gullibility to
stand and examine the cheating horizon. Dark storm clouds still hung heavy and
low in the unjust sky, while the towers guarding the park had just been lit. Between
the evil grey of their concrete summits and the painful skyline, a strip of
neon blue rimmed the curve of the earth, as if announcing the apocalypse or judgment
day. Laura stopped cold just past the dragon and tried to take it all in, the
sky, the wet ground, the light, the dark clouds. Suddenly she realized what was
missing. There were no seagulls screeching from the towers or bobbing in the
pond, no pigeons strutting across the tarmac, flying over the ramp to the park,
pecking at old gum. She thought if she could stand absolutely still, unhear the
vile scraping of the boards, the excrutiating wheels, the hackneyed shouts, and
see nothing but the fading light, then a change, like destiny, might be
possible. She held her breath and tried to heal.
Entradas con "Translation" disponen de versión castellana.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Copyright © 2008-2024 Kymm Coveney - All rights reserved.
The wonderful pairing of words like excruciating wheels, duplicitous part and fickle breath made me feel as assaulted as she felt in that moment. I really liked it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jennifer. it was a bit of a lark.
Deletegreat imagery.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Deana.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful writing and amazing imagery - I felt like I was reading a painting.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Suzanne. The idea behind this piece was very visual.
Deleteohh, how DO you do this? beautifully written; wow!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rashmi! A lot of "letting go" in this one.
DeleteNice descriptions! I like the part where she thought to unhear the sounds and heal again in the silence.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Janna! Funny, the "unhearing" came from having read a novel I didn't much like (The City and The City by China Miéville).
DeleteI love how you painted the city. It seems all sharp edges and coldness. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Draug. In my head it was an image, much more than a story. A certain type of sky.
Delete