Write about: ups and downs.
My down: Max has kindly shared his cold with me.
My up: the deck, it be finished at last:
Assuming this cold doesn't result in my nose being amputated, I'd say the up outweighs the down today.
Mine:
What goes up, must come down. That's what they say, right? Whoever in the world they might be. Big government, probably. Maybe the police. Not worth thinking about, really - it's one secret I'll never uncover.
Anyway. Ups and downs, that's what I'm talking about. Everything that reaches for the sky drops back to Earth eventually. Even the stuff that seems like it's successfully escaped gravity.
Gravity is some kinda powerful, huh?
It's just a matter of time, I guess. Which means all those forks and knives I flung up and stuck into the ceiling have to come tumbling down at some point.
And you just gotta know, with my luck, it'll be right after Mom and Dad get home from work...
3 comments:
Well, you have a small child now. You're going to spend the next five years or so getting regularly sick as they go through all the childhood illnesses. Think of it as a refresher course for your immune system ;-)
The deck is looking good! I'm still saddened by your conventional choice of steps to reach the ground, but they are good steps at least :)
Heh, what started out sounding philosophical and deep degenerated quickly, didn't it! I can't get out of my head the idea that the narrator is actually late-teens/early twenties though, it just seems more likely.... And I wish we were there to see the triumph of gravity and the rain of steel!
Ups and Downs
It was snowing in the burg, a little white sugar sprinkled over the dirt like frosting on a cupcake. I was wearing tennis racquets that I'd expropriated from a school hall. Not because the snow was deep enough to need snow shoes, but because my actual shoes had melted (don't ask) and the racquets didn't leave anything in the snow that looked like footprints. It was working too; Jack Hill was heading my way and didn't have a clue I was waiting for him.
He rounded the corner, his head down against the biting wind, his skinny arms pulling his thin linen jacket around him tightly, and his trouser-cuffs flapping like angry flags. I put my arm out and wrapped it around his neck, the joints popping and creaking like the floors of an old house settling at night. He froze, which was stupid, and I pulled him in, turning him at the last and body-slamming him against the wall. He wheezed as the air was forced from his lungs.
"Tell me, Jack," I said. "Ups and downs. Tell me about them."
"You've got the wrong man! I'm a lecturer!" His voice was high-pitched, whiny. Like a woman who wants to know why you're borrowing from her wardrobe.
"You're also a day-trader," I said. "Mad Frankie has a file on you. It's thick." When I said Mad Frankie's name he went rigid, and a few seconds later I smelled the acrid smell of fresh urine. I shuffled my tennis racquets out of the way.
"A man can have a hobby," said Jack, and you heard the nerves twanging in his voice like a blues player plucking a guitar left in a sauna.
"Mad Frankie doesn't mind hobbies," I said. "But he worries when the ups don't come with any downs. As he likes to put it, what goes up must be brought down."
"Mad Frankie doesn't seem to be coming down any time soon!" Brave words from a man who'd just wet himself. I was briefly impressed, then I kneed him in the pit of his stomach. He doubled over, trying to get his breath, and I hopped around in my own silent agony of abused muscle and torn tendons.
"This is the easy way," I said when I stopped hopping. "The next step is anger management."
Jack, who'd barely stood up again, turned a bilious shade of green.
"The easy way," he whispered. "Please."
"Let's talk about those downs then," I said. "To complement your ups."
The Roller-Coaster
Up, up, up with a ratcheting sound
Higher and higher, up and around
Kachunk. Now screaming all the way down
Greg - I could do without the refresher, thanks :P
Love the imagery and descriptions in yours. Jack's appearance in particular.
Morganna - great rhythm... that's a whole lot of fun to read out loud :)
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