l i f e
san diego serenade
contributions
christopher@30seconds.org
I listened to the sound a long time in the dark, eyes closed, before I realized I was hearing the bug zapper going off next door.
I opened my eyes and rubbed the sleep from them slowly. I was lying flat on my couch, I'm not sure how long. It was nighttime and I noted the fact I needed to replace a few bulbs in my chandelier. Well, all of them actually, save one dim 40 watt that burned on.
Tink. Tink. Tink.
I craned my neck, brought my shoulders as close to my ears as I could and looked straight up.
Tink. Tink.
The moth beat against the one glass shade left glowing.
I lazily reached my right arm out and felt around the marble coffee table for my glasses.
Tink.
I stretched behind my head with my left arm and flicked the switch on the wall that would set the moth free.
I stumbled into the kitchen and drank deeply from the ginger ale bottle. It stung going down but it quenched my dry mouth. The clock on wall said it was 8:45 p.m.
I was missing my plane.
My chance. It all came back now. The power surge that erased my messages, and even though I knew who called I didn't know why. The best I could offer was, "I'll wait..."
I must have lie down. Back at the couch things became clearer. The fan oscillated and I gained more clarity with each pass.
It wasn't going to happen. Not this time. Maybe never. It was so close. I rest my head in my hands. I Breathed deep. Deeper than I had in weeks. The phone book lay open to the yellow pages. Air – Airline. I'd circled Delta and written down a few flight times. I'd draw a couple tress in the margins of the dog-eared page. One time was circled, 8:50.
I did the only thing I could do. I went back to the kitchen and filled a glass with ice and tonic water. I hit play on the remote and listened to soft piano as I pour the gin slowly from the Orrefors decanter.
By 9:35 it was done. I was contemplating a couple letters I needed to write. I was chewing on the end of a pen. I sat in the mission oak rocker and looked through the Swedish ivy, out the window, and across the street.
goodnight 5.28.98
